


The Fall of the Angels

by xanydee



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst with a Happy Ending, BDSM, Dean Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dom Alastair (Supernatural), Dom Charlie, Dom Gabriel, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Hurt Dean, Engineer Dean, Implied/Referenced Bad BDSM Etiquette, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Meddling Castiel, Meddling Charlie, Meddling Sam, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Panic Attacks, Possessive Gabriel, Protective Castiel, Protective Charlie Bradbury, Protective Gabriel, Protective Sam Winchester, Rock Star Castiel, Rock Star Gabriel, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sam Winchester at Stanford, Sub Dean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-09-18 04:17:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 30,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9367592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanydee/pseuds/xanydee
Summary: Dean's vibrant green eyes followed the masked man as he lithely made his way across the floor. He moved so smoothly, it was as though the crowd parted for him. Clad in black form fitting jeans that showed off that wonderful firm ass, his topless form showed off large wonderfully detailed golden tattooed wings running the length of the man’s back.The man scanned the crowd and suddenly Dean was rooted in place as golden eyes locked onto his emerald ones. God even his eyes are predatory. The man slowly man his way towards Dean, moving slowly, but confidently, like a jaguar stalking it’s prey. The thought of being this man’s prey tonight sent shivers down Dean’s spine.The man stopped a few feet away from Dean with a smirk. “Follow me to The Pit.”Dean decided then and there he’d follow the man anywhere.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the boys. 
> 
>  
> 
> I wanted more bdsm!debriel in the world so I decided to make my own ;P  
> Completely unbeta'd - all mistakes are my own.

**Queens, New York - January 14, 2005, 11:50pm**

Dean's vibrant green eyes followed the masked man as he lithely made his way across the floor. He moved so smoothly, it was as though the crowd parted for him. Clad in black form fitting jeans that showed off that wonderful firm ass, his topless form showed off large wonderfully detailed golden tattooed wings running the length of the man’s back. 

Dean took a sip of his ice tea to try and hydrate his suddenly very dry mouth. The man was beautiful. He moved with the grace of a predator in his kingdom. At complete ease knowing he was on the top of the hierarchy. He seemed to be looking for something, or someone and held no qualms with showing his boredom at everything that wasn’t what he was looking for. Dean wondered if he fit whatever criteria that this beautiful dangerous man was looking for.

The man scanned the crowd and suddenly Dean was rooted in place as golden eyes locked onto his emerald ones.  _ God even his eyes are predatory. _ The man slowly man his way towards Dean, moving slowly, but confidently, like a jaguar stalking it’s prey. The thought of being this man’s prey tonight sent shivers down Dean’s spine.

The man stopped a few feet away from Dean with a smirk. “Follow me to The Pit.” 

Dean decided then and there he’d follow the man anywhere.

  
  


**Manhattan, New York - January 11, 2005**

 

Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes as he looked over the blueprints for Singer-Harvelle Engineering’s latest project for umpteenth time that day. Something was off, but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out  _ what _ . He looked at his clock. It was already nine o'clock and everybody else had already gone home.

“You still here, boy?” a gruff voice came from his doorway. Dean looked up, and smiled wryly at Bobby as the rugged old man walked into his office. 

“Yeah, there’s something off about these blueprints, but I can’t figure out what. I’ve taken them apart and put them back together so many times today already, but I still can’t figure out why it won’t work,” Dean said, leaning back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. 

Bobby looked over Dean’s shoulder at the blueprints. “Hmmm, yeah I see what you mean. But hell, boy. I love your dedication, but hometime was four hours ago. Get your ass home, why don't you? Maybe this will all make sense after a few hours sleep? You’re no good to me dead on your feet.”

Dean huffed a laugh. “If home time was four hours ago, what are you doing here old man?” He asked his boss, cheekily. The joys of growing up with your boss? Being able to snark back at him without being seriously worried about being fired.

Bobby snorted. “Don’t you ‘old man’ me. I’m the Co-CEO, it makes sense for me to be here this late. Now get your ass home. Consider that an order from your boss.” He said walking out of Dean’s office. “And don’t let Ellen catch you still here when she leaves in a couple hours, not unless you want her to tan your hide.”

That got Dean moving. Ellen tended to stay late daily, but she was a stickler for making sure her employees took care of themselves and left the office at a reasonable hour. Dean would get an earful if she found out he was still here. 

Dean packed up his suitcase, and made sure the blueprints were backed up onto the company server so he could work on it from home. He berated himself for not thinking about that earlier. He only hoped that he could sneak out of the building before Ellen caught him.

Once he had everything packed and backed up, he moved quietly to his door, sticking his head out to check if the coast was clear. He moved swiftly to the stairs, not wanting to take the elevator because that would alert Ellen that there was someone still here. He made it to the staircase door, only to bump into a cheery little redhead who was also trying to make a swift and quiet exit, both of them landing on their asses from the impact.

“Shit. Ow.” Dean swore, before freezing. He stared at Charlie who was also frozen. They sat quietly, waiting to see if their tumble alerted Ellen to their presence. Once they were sure that it hadn’t, Charlie adorably lifted a finger to her lips, unnecessarily reminding Dean to be quiet with a stern look on her face, before they both got up. They quietly snuck through the staircase door, making sure it didn’t slam shut behind them, before they rushed down the stairs.

“Got a deathwish Winchester? Or do you just like getting your hide tanned by Ellen?” Charlie whispered breathlessly as they ran down the stairs. 

“Like you can talk. What the hell are you doing here so late?” Dean whispered back. Charlie gave him a look as they made it to the second floor landing.

“The servers weren’t backing up properly. I had to make sure they were going to, because  _ certain _ people like to stay late and work.” She hissed. Dean froze, and grabbed her arm. “What?!” He exclaimed, before Charlie slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shhh! Do you  _ want _ us to get caught?” She whispered, wided eyed, looking around. “Besides I fixed the problem half an hour ago, I was just triple checking my work before Bobby came by.” She said placatingly.

A door slammed above them. They both froze. For a terrifying heartbeat, they waited to see if it was Ellen. Luck was not on their side tonight.

“Bradbury! Winchester!” They heard her shout from four floors up. They looked at each other, and made a silent agreement, grinning at each other. 

“Well I guess we got no need to be quiet now do we?” Charlie said, grabbing Dean’s hand. “Ruuuun!”

Dean laughed as they ran down the last flight of stairs and out the door to the lobby. 

Bobby was chatting with the nightguard at the front desk, and the two grinned at the pair running out the front door. “Idjits.” Bobby said under his breath.

The night guard, Garth, grinned up at them. “They know that this isn’t getting them out of a scolding, right?”

Bobby huffed a laugh, “Probably not. But let’s let them keep thinking they got away, hey? Should be more entertaining tomorrow.” He replied with a wink. 

 

Charlie and Dean kept running until they were two blocks away from the office. They ducked down an alley just to be safe before they finally stopped to catch their breaths. Dean leaned against a wall, while Charlie squatted down next to him. 

“What does it say about my life that that’s the most excitement I’ve had all week?” Dean mused breathlessly. Charlie laughed. 

“That you are a serious workaholic and you’re coming out with me to the club on Friday.” She replied firmly with a grin on her face. Dean grinned back at her.  “Heh, I prefer dedicated worker. But the club sounds like a good idea. It’s been awhile since I’ve been there.” He replied thoughtfully.

Charlie was one of the few people in his life who knew about this particular hobby of his. When he first ran into his redheaded coworker at the club he was so terrified at being caught out that he almost ran out of the place. Fortunately, she caught him before he could make it to the door and reassured him that it was okay, and that she’d keep his secret. 

“Ah crap.” He said, slapping his forehead. “My car is in the parking lot still. I got so caught up in sneaking out of there I forgot about that.”

Charlie waved a hand at him. “Eh, I’ll give you a ride. I parked a few blocks away from the office because it’s closer to that cafe with the cute barista I told you about.” She offered with a grin.

Dean laughed, “Why am I not surprised?” He said as he followed her to where her car was parked. She grinned back at him.

“Whatever, Winchester. She’s cute and you know it.” She paused, and turned and waggled a finger at him. “But hands off. I saw her first, I got dibs.” She growled in a voice that Dean was assumed was supposed to be intimidating, but came off as adorable instead. 

Dean bit back a smirk as he threw up his hands in surrender. “Sure thing, Your Majesty. Consider these hands firmly off.” Charlie narrowed her eyes at him before giving a curt nod and spinning back around to continue their journey to her car, grin back in place. 

“So what’s the issue with the big project?” Charlie asked as they got into her little yellow beetle. Dean would normally mock the car, but as his other option would be to go back and face Ellen’s wrath, he wisely kept his mouth shut. He did however, sigh as he got in. Charlie’s Toto (seriously who names their car after a  _ dog _ anyways?) just wasn’t as awesome as Baby was. But then, no car was.

He managed to play off the sigh as one of frustration towards the project, which was easy enough; this thing was seriously going to make him age prematurely. “Some of the damn specs are off. Not by much but just enough to make it not work optimally. And I can’t seem to figure out how to fix it. I’ve spent the majority of my day today - and night - trying to get it work.” He replied, scowling. 

As Charlie started her car, “Walking on Sunshine” started blaring on her stereo. Dean groaned. “Awe come on, can’t you at least listen to good music? You know I think I have an Angelorum Lapsus CD in my bag.” He said as he started digging through his bag.

Charlie smirked, but obligingly turned down the volume a bit. “What’s that rule you have in Baby? Oh right. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.” She snarked at him as she drove off. Dean refused to admit that he started pouting.

Charlie side-eyed him as she drove in the direction of Dean’s loft. “You’re not going to try and work from home are you?” She asked suspiciously. “You know that if Ellen finds out, you’ll just yourself in even more trouble.”

Dean ducked his head sheepishly, before he grinned cheekily “Of course not. I plan on going home, eating a balanced meal, and going to bed at a relatively reasonable hour.” 

Charlie rolled her eyes, biting back a smirk. “Hmm, well I suppose I’m going to need the plausible deniability, so I’m just gonna take your word for it.” She hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “So, bit of an awkward segue, but why  _ haven’t _ you be coming to club lately? It’s been, what? Six months? Are you sure it’s just the workaholism?” She prodded carefully. 

Dean sighed, and slumped back into his seat, he could  _ just _ see his building up ahead. He had been so close to being homefree. He ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, mostly,” he stalled, hoping he could get away with just that. Unfortunately, this was Charlie he was dealing with, so no dice. She raised an eyebrow at him as she pulled into park in front of his loft. “Uh huuh,” she said, motioning him to continue. Dean sighed again.

“I...I just wasn’t quite ready yet, ya know?” He said, looking at her pleadingly, silently begging her to let it go.

Charlie groaned and threw her head down onto her steering wheel. “Ugh, you Winchesters and your damned puppy dog eyes. I seriously think they should be illegal.” She whined, but Dean knew he won himself a bit of time before having to talk about it. 

He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek, “You’re the best Charlie! Thanks for saving my butt with the server backup, and thanks for the ride!” He said as he got out of the car. 

Charlie grinned, “Yeah, you owe me big time Winchester! And don’t think this conversation is over!” She called after him. “Oh hey!” Dean stopped and turned back to look at her. “Do you want a ride to work tomorrow morning? Seeing as your car is still in the parking lot?”

Dean smirked, “You sure? I don’t want to cut into your coffee time.” He teased

Charlie flushed a little. “Hey, you said hands off. So it shouldn’t be a problem right?” She asked warily.

Dean laughed, “Yes, yes. Hands are off. I’m just teasing you. But, yes I’d love a ride. But seriously, you already put your butt on the line for me with Ellen, so don’t go to too much trouble.” He said seriously. 

Charlie waved him off. “Oh psh, those servers need to get back online anyway so I probably would have had to do the overtime one way or another so it’s no skin of my back. Though, I’m not looking forward to seeing Ellen tomorrow.” She replied with a shudder. Dean nodded solemnly, He wasn’t looking forward to that either. Despite what Bobby and Garth had assumed, Charlie and Dean knew they had only forestalled their scolding, not escaped it.

“So, pick you up at 8:30 then?” Charlie asked. Dean thought for a moment, yeah he could afford to get in at the normal hour instead of his usual early hour considering he worked late tonight. He nodded in confirmation and grinned.

“If your barista doesn’t give you a free coffee, your coffee’s on me in the morning.” He said, as he started walking towards the entrance of his building.

As Dean opened his door he ran through a mental checklist of all he needed to do before he crashed for the night. He walked to the kitchen to prep his lunch for the next day. He laid out the ingredients and pressed the speed dial button for Sam on his phone as he did so.

“Sam speaking.”

“Hey little brother, how’s it hanging?”

Sam huffed on the other line. “Finally made it out of the office? You were supposed to call hours ago.”

Dean ducked his head a little, even though Sam couldn’t see the motion. “Yeah, sorry about that, this project’s been a pain in my ass lately.”

Sam hummed, “Well you could’ve at least texted. Do you have any idea what time it is over here?”

Dean looked over at the multi-timezone clock that he’d bought when Singer-Harvelle Engineering moved from South Dakota to New York and when Sam started at Stanford, and grimaced. It was after midnight over there. “Ugh, sorry about that. I really lost track of time on the project. Definitely didn’t mean to stay that late. You know how I hate incurring Ellen’s wrath.” He apologized as he sliced up some tomatoes for his sandwich.

Sam laughed, "Oh man, she’s gonna chew your ass out big time. Weren’t you supposed to be out of there by 6 at the latest? Isn’t that her rule, you can stay one hour overtime tops if needed, but then you gotta go home and get some proper rest?”

“Yeah, and what’s worse is that Charlie ended up staying late too, because the servers weren’t backing up properly.” Dean replied with a groan, still hating the fact that Charlie stayed late because of him. “And Ellen caught us as we were trying to sneak out the building.”

“How many favors do you owe her now?” Sam asked, laughing.

Dean groaned, “God, I’ve lost count. All I know is that at the next Moon Door meet, she’s gonna work me like crazy.”

“I still can’t believe that she got you into that crazy thing, and you call  _ me _ the nerd of the family.” Sam teased. 

Dean puffed his chest a little defensively. “You  _ are _ the nerd of the family. How many random facts do you barrage us with every year at Christmas? And  _ who _ was it who got into Stanford on a full ride?”

“Hey, don’t sell yourself short.  _ You _ got into MIT and graduated with a Masters in Engineering.” Sam berated, and Dean could  _ hear _ the grin in his voice.

“Whatever, I’m still not the nerd of the family.” Dean grumbled, and Sam barked a laugh. “Speaking of full rides, do you need any money? You eating right over there? I know we wanted you to have the full college experience but that doesn’t mean you have to live off of ramen and mac’n’cheese.”

“No, Dean. I’m  _ fine. _ ” Dean could almost see Sam rolling his eyes. “You know, if I were at all greedy, between you, Bobby, and Ellen, I’m sure I could be rolling in money if I said yes every time you guys asked me if I needed any.”

Dean laughed . “Well, then just consider yourself lucky. You’ve got three people who care about you enough to make sure you’re taken care of at college.”

“Yeah,” Sam said in a soft, affectionate voice. “You know that I can’t thank you enough right? Even before Bobby took us in when Mom and Dad died, it was basically you who took care of me. Mom and Dad did their best, but they both worked full time jobs to make sure we had food on the table.”

Dean coughed embarrassedly. “Yeah, well, I just did what I was told to, ya know?” He said gruffly.

“Still. You didn’t have to do as much as you did.” Sam pressed. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m awesome. We done with this chick-flick moment?” Dean grumbled, clearing his throat with a blush and his lips quirking up into a small smile.

“Yeah, we’re done. For now.” Sam acquiesced with a smile, knowing how important his big brother’s macho image was to him. 

The brothers chatted about how their week had been, how Dean’s project was doing, how Sam was finding his classes this semester, how Bobby and Ellen were doing (though Sam was scheduled for  _ their _ weekly call tomorrow evening.), how Charlie was doing, and just general updates, bickers, and bantering. By the end of their conversation, Dean had finished making his lunch as was getting ready for bed. He’d never ever say it out loud, but he loved his weekly chats with his baby brother. 

“Hey, Dean?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Yeah?” Dean said, as he got into bed.

“How are you doing? You know, with...you know. Charlie mentioned you hadn’t been back to the club since.” 

Dean froze for a moment. Trust Charlie to get back up on this. “Yeah, Sammy, I’m fine. Just, needed sometime away you know.” He said quietly. “And just so you now, it’s extremely creepy that you talk to Charlie about me and the club, just saying.”

“It’s not like I specifically asked her about it, jerk.” Sam defended. “ _ She _ brought it up. She’s just worried about you, and it’s not like she can talk about it with many other people, since you like to keep the fact that you go there quiet.”

Dean grumbled, hating that it he was right, and that Sam had found out in the first place. But the damn kid was too perceptive and too curious for Dean to ever be able to keep a decent secret from him. 

“Seriously, Sammy. I’m fine. I just needed some time away. I’ve already promised Charlie that I’d go out with her this weekend. Now can we  _ please _ drop this. It’s bad enough that you know about it in the first place…”

“Yeah, no, totally got it. I just had to ask...you know how Charlie gets…” Sam said a little uncomfortably.

“Yeah. I appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.” Dean reiterated once more just in case Sam wasn’t sure.

“Alright, if you’re sure. Anyways, it  _ is _ a school night, and I’m pretty sure my evil professor has a pop quiz scheduled for tomorrow morning, so I should try and get some sleep.” Sam sighed, before his voice turned stern. “And  _ you _ should too. Ellen will skin you alive if you show up tired.”

Dean chuckled. “How is it that I’m the older brother but you still manage to finish every call with a lecture?”

“ _ One _ of us has to be the mature one.” Sam mumbled. Dean grinned. 

“Alright alright, I’m  _ in _ bed already anyway. G’night Sammy.”

“Good night Dean.” Sam said. “Oh, and Dean?”

“Yeah Sammy?”

“It’s Sam.” Sam said before hanging up.

Dean fell asleep with a grin on face. It’d been a pretty good day.

 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Brooklyn, New York - January 11 - 12, 2005**

 

Gabriel flopped back onto his bed with a groan, and the thin layer of dust that had been coating the comforter wafted into the air around him. They’d been on tour for what felt like forever. It’d been so long since he’d been home. He’d have to go pick up Thor from Alfie’s place tomorrow. Tonight however, he just wanted to sleep. 

He felt a something kick one of his feet that had been dangling off the edge of the bed. “Come on, Gabriel. If you are going to pass out, at least get under the covers first.” 

Gabriel peeked open an eye at his little brother, and fellow band mate. “How are you even upright, Cassie? I swear it’s like you’re an alien or something. Even Luci was dozing off on the cab ride back.” He grumbled.

Castiel shrugged. “It is called not partying every night after a show. You should try it some time.” He said, dropping the duffle he had slung over his shoulder by the door on his way out. “And by the way, I am not the pack mule. Next time could you please grab your own bags? It was a pain having to carry all of your guys’ bags along with mine.”

“We love you, Cassie!” The older Novaks called out, with varying degrees of muffled sleepiness, from their respective rooms.

“Yes, yes, next time show that love by carrying your own bags.” Castiel grumbled, but they could all hear the soft smile in his voice as he said it.

Gabriel forced himself to sit upright and grab his bag so he could plug in his phone. He checked his messages, he’d messaged his friends when the plane had landed to let them know he was back in town. And of course, Charlie was the first to respond. Did that woman even sleep?

 

> **Woo Hoo! Welcome back! You coming out on Friday?**

 

> *smirk* wouldn’t miss it for the world. I should be recovered from the tour by then. Any fresh meat I should know about?

 

> **Not really, but I got a friend who’s coming out. He hasn’t been out in a while.**

 

> Oooooh. Is he cute?

 

> **Totally!.. Though I might be a bit biased :P**

 

> Doesn’t matter anyways. After a tour like the one I just had, I’m probably gonna wear my mask again

 

> **Eck, lots of groupies again?**

 

> Like you wouldn’t believe. Didn’t get to go to a club the whole tour.

 

> **Man, that sucks! I know you wanted to check out that one in SF too.**

 

> Yeah, I might just try and take a few days off and just go vacation over there. Cut my hair or something, go full superhero incognito.

 

> **Ball cap, aviators, and a dark jacket?**

 

> The whole nine. 

 

> **Take a pic. That’d be awesome.**

 

Gabriel grinned. Leave it to Charlie to always be able to raise his spirits on a hard day. She was like a bouncing ball of sunshine.

 

> What are you doing up anyways? Isn’t your boss kind of a hardass about proper sleeping patterns?

 

> ***cringe* yeah...servers were acting funky at work and I had pull some extra hours so said cute friend could save his work.**

 

> Oh. Said cute friend is a coworker?

 

> **Yepp. And he’s awesome possums. After tonight he owes me like 10 favors. The next Moon Door meet is going to be awesome. *evil grin***

 

> Oh man. He’s a moonhead too?? Where the hell did you meet this guy and how have I yet to meet him?

 

> **He’s been a bit of a workaholic since I met you. But he’s starting to come around. If you want I could introduce you?**

 

> **I mean, that’s if you want. I know when you want to wear your mask you wanna stay anon.**

 

> **Which is totally cool by the way. No judgey here. Totally makes sense.**

 

> **Am I just slowly eating my own foot here? Or did you just pass out on me?**

 

> Kfbktoid

 

> **…**

 

> **I’m going assume that means that you fell asleep with your phone on your face.**

 

> **Good night Gabe. See you Friday!**

 

Gabriel had definitely passed out on her. He was snoring away, with his phone on his face as ding after ding went off. Castiel peeked his head into his big brother’s room, and smiling softly, walked in and plugged in Gabriel’s phone, placing it on the nightstand, and tucked his brother in before walking out and shutting the door.

 

“GOOOD MORNING VIETNAAAM!” Lucifer called out at 8am the next morning. 

“Shut up Luci” Michael called out from his room.

“huurgh” Raphael groaned loudly from his.

“Why are you even up?” Gabriel mumbled, as he stumbled out.

“Good morning Lucien. Must you be so loud at this hour?” Castiel said from where he was drinking his morning coffee at the kitchen island.

“Hello Cassie, stick in the mud as ever. Why can’t you adopt my band-relevant nickname just like everyone?” Lucifer said with a pout.

“Because that is not the name you were born with. And I’d appreciate it if you stopped calling me Cassie.” Castiel said primly. Gabriel rolled his eyes, he did not have enough caffeine in his system to deal with this argument yet again. Their parents had all been rather religious and had named all but Lucien after angels. Mostly because they didn’t want to have a child named Lucifer so they modified it to be a little bit more socially acceptable. But when the band started becoming popular, Luci adopted the fan-endorsed nickname since it worked so well with the band name and theme. After all, Angelorum Lapsus means the Fall of the Angels in Latin, and who better to be their frontman than Lucifer himself.

Lucifer just grinned roguishly at Castiel before turning to Gabriel. “So little brother, what are your plans for today?” He asked as he took a donut from a tray of pastries on the island. 

Gabriel shrugged. “Probably just go pick up Thor, take him to the park, and come back and relax.”

“Oh, yes. Thor was staying with Samandriel while we were on tour wasn’t he?” Castiel asked. Gabriel and Lucifer rolled their eyes. Castiel was ever one for calling people by their birth names rather than their preferred or nicknames. Everyone called Samandriel ‘Alfie’, even mom and dad. Though why ‘Alfie’ of all names, no one knew why. Someone just started calling him that and it just sort of...stuck.  

“Yeah,  _ Alfie _ graciously offered to take him in while we were away. After the last tour we figured it would be best if Thor stayed put this time around.” Gabriel said. “You know, considering his namesake is the god of Thunder, you’d think he’d be less afraid of heights.” Lucifer said with a chuckle. Gabriel smiled a wry grin. “Yeah, you’d think.”

At that moment Michael and Raphael both decided to stumble into the kitchen. “Coffee?” Michael asked in a sleep rough voice.

“Yeah there’s still some left. And some of that weird soy crap that you like too.” Gabriel replied with a smirk. He considered following Lucifer’s lead in being a pain in the ass and bugging his sleepy brothers but decided against it for now. It was too soon to start up another prank war, they’d be expecting it. He’d give it a couple of days for them to settle in first, lull them into a false sense of security as they say.

Gabriel clapped his hands together, causing Mike and Raph to flinch a little. “Welp, I think I’ll head off to go pick up Thor. Alfie is expecting me.” 

“Say hello to baby brother for me!” Lucifer called out as Gabriel walked back to his room to get ready. Michael and Raphael flinching at the volume.

Gabriel waved a hand behind him in reply.

 

Gabriel checked his messages again as he got ready. He refused to admit that he felt disappointed that Kali didn’t respond. They had agreed when Gabriel left for his tour to call things off, the long distance thing just wasn’t working for them. They had tried it on the last tour and more often than not their phone calls ended in awkward fuming silences or one or both of them yelling at each other. Kali was working hard at getting her business degree so she could take over Koothrappali Industries from her father one day and juggling her workload and maintaining a daily phone calls and text messages had been wearing on her. 

So when Gabriel told her about the next upcoming tour, she decided that she didn’t want a repeat performance, and Gabriel, recognizing the stress it had caused both of them, felt the same. But still, they had loved each other, or at least so Gabriel thought. He’d kind of expected her to at least reply to his text message when he got back.

_ Whatever _ , Gabriel thought bitterly,  _ just means more time at the club for me then I guess. _

Gabriel had been going to Club Hel for the last year or so. Kali had introduced him to the lifestyle, and to the club. The main area of the club was basically your standard club, but it was a little more kink-friendly than most. It wasn’t uncommon to see men and women scantily clad in leather, or wearing cuffs or collars, but most people kept it pretty tame so as to not scare of the ‘muggles’ as the regulars affectionately called those who weren’t part of their community. The back area of the club however, was more exclusive. You had to have an actual membership to get in, and alcohol and drugs were not allowed back there. The back area was known to the regulars as the Pit, and it was where those who like to engage in BDSM activities liked to come play. 

It was surprisingly popular, if only because it was often more packed than the ‘muggle’ side of the club. In fact, there were so many regulars there that it was quite easy to never meet all of them, even if you were so gungho as to go daily. 

As Gabriel made his way down to his red ‘55 Buick Special, his pride and joy, he wonder if that was the reason he’d never met Charlie’s ‘cute friend’. He’d known Charlie for about eight months, but even at the club, where he knew Charlie spent a lot of her free time, he didn’t run into her that often. In any case, past  experience told him that Charlie’s friends tended to be awesome, so he was kind of looking forward to meeting this cute friend of hers. 

Gabriel rang the doorbell to Alfie’s two floor townhouse. The joys of coming from a large, and rich family, even the baby of the family got a nice place once they left the nest. Gabriel grinned as he heard Thor barking and clamouring at the door. Alfie was gonna be so annoyed, Gabriel knew that Thor got excited whenever someone rang the doorbell. It was to the point that it was well known in the family to knock when coming to visit.

Alfie opened the door looking a little frazzled, until he noticed who it was at the door. He regarded his older brother with a bitchface that rivalled Castiel’s whenever he was called Cassie. “Gabe! You know better than to ring the doorbell!” He said exasperated. Gabriel grinned and scooped up Thor, the tiny Russell Terrier who immediately began licking slobbery kisses all over his face. 

“Sorry, Alfie. I couldn’t resist. But that’s what you get for not disabling it when you took in Thor.” Gabriel chuckled, nuzzling into Thor’s kisses. “How was the little guy? Did he behave? Hm? Hm? Did you behave? Were you a good doggie for uncle Alfie? Huh? Huh?” He cooed, rubbing Thor’s belly as the dog wiggled ecstatically. 

Alfie’s annoyance at his brother melted as he watched Gabriel’s blatant affection for the dog. “Yeah, he was the best. Gotta say, I’m gonna miss the little guy. Slobbery wake up kisses and all.” He said with a grin. 

Gabriel grinned up at his baby brother. “Well you can always come visit, and the next tour we go on you can take him again.” He said. “Plus, it’d be nice to see you around more often, I know our brothers miss you too.” he continued softly

Alfie ducked his head, a little ashamed. “Yeah, I keep meaning to, it’s just I keep getting stumped with this book and my editor is totally on my ass about it. But I miss you guys too.” He said with a smile.

“How about this. This Friday I’m going out to the club, but how about before that you come over for dinner? I can make your favourite? Peach cobbler? And I’m sure Cassie would love to whip up that lasagna that you love.” Gabriel suggested, putting Thor back down, who promptly ran back into the house, and ran back out with a lease in his mouth. Gabriel and Alfie grinned down at the dog’s intelligence and enthusiasm. 

“That sounds awesome. And you guys can tell me all about the tour. I should have enough written out by then that my editor should calm down enough to let me out to play.” Alfie said with a smirk. 

Gabriel smirked back. The Novak family seemed to have a penchant for sassy smartassery, and the baby of the family was no exception. “Awesome. I’ll let the others know. They’ll  be excited to see you again little bro.” He grinned. 

“It’ll be nice to see everyone again.” Alfie replied. “Hold on a moment, while I go get the rest of Thor’s stuff.”

“Sure thing. Thanks again for watching him while we were away.” Gabriel said, as Alfie went back into the house. He came out a moment later with a duffle that had little Mjolnirs patterning it. Gabriel grinned. “Seriously?” He asked incredulously, “where in the world did you find that bag?” 

Alfie grinned back at his brother and replied with a small laugh. “This little flea market a few blocks down. Didn’t even have to pay for it either. The old lady took one look at the Thor and when she asked his name, said the bag was meant for him and gave it to me. Wouldn’t take no for an answer or any money either.” 

“Huh, I’ll have to go thank her at least,” Gabriel said. Alfie shook his head. “Don’t bother, after that day we never saw her again. She must’ve moved on or something.” He said with a shrug.

“Huh, okay then.” Gabriel said, grabbing the bag from Alfie and slinging it onto his shoulder. “Thanks again for watching him, and see you on Friday!” 

Alfie smiled and waved as Gabriel walked down his porch steps. “Yeah, no problem, and I’m looking forward to it.” 

Gabriel smiled as he walked with Thor down the street. There was a park across the street from Alfie’s that was dog friendly, and he’d parked his car over there since he’d been planning to let the dog run around for a bit for heading back home. He couldn’t help but be in a good mood. He had his dog back, his baby brother was going to come by and visit on Friday, and he was going to head down to the club this weekend, and to top everything off, it was a gorgeous sunny day right now. After the crazy whirlwind that this last tour had been, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel grateful for everything right now. 

Gabriel sat down at a park bench, and watched Thor run around playing with some kids who were a the park.  _ Yepp, today was a good day. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Gabe meet, and things get a little intense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so totally should have been sleeping instead of writing this but my muse wouldn't let me stop. I think I may have inflicted some carpal tunnel in my wrists. So this may be it for a few days. But still over 10k words in one day. I say a few days rest from writing is deserved. Hopefully my muse will let me.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> -X

Wednesday and Thursday went by like a blur for both men. Dean had managed to finally figure out what was up with the blueprints and sent it down to the techs to get them to make the prototype needed for marketing. Gabriel relaxed with Thor and his brothers, recovering from the six month long tour. And sooner than they both expected, Friday morning had arrived.

 

“Dean!”

Dean turned around to see Charlie bounding up to him. “Soooo, looking forward to tonight?” She asked nudging his side with her elbow. He rolled his eyes.

“I swear, you’re more excited that I am about me going tonight. Come on, it’s not that big a deal.” He said making his way to his office, Charlie in tow.

“Nuh-uh. This is a mucho grande big deal. It’s been six months! Six! It’s totally time for you to get back on the horse. Plus, everyone keeps asking about you. They miss you, you know.” She said. “And it’s not like they can just call you up and ask you to hangout, since you give everyone an alias.”

Dean quirked his mouth. He missed the gang at the club too, but it was safer this way, with no one knowing his real name.  
Charlie waved away his discomfort. “I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty or anything, but yeah. This is kind of a big deal. We’re all going to be happy to see you out again.” She said with a smile. Dean relaxed and smiled back.

“Oh oh!” She cried, suddenly extremely excited again. “There’s also going to be a surprise! A friend of mine is coming out and I swear you’re going to love him!”

Dean rolled his eyes. He hadn’t even step foot in the club yet and she was already trying to set him up. “Charlie…” He said warningly.

“No no no. Not like that. Though I’d be surprised if you two _didn’t_ hit it off. But he’s super cool and I’m pretty sure you guys like the same things.” She said with a smirk that Dean thinks was supposed to be a reassuring smile that failed horribly. He sighed.

“As long as he knows I’m not looking for anything long term or anything. I’m just out for some stress relief and to relax tonight.” He said resigned. Charlie was like a dog with a bone when it came to playing matchmaker.

“Yuh-huh, noooo worries. Just relaxing and having a good time, scout's honor.” She promised. Though neither put too much stock into that particular promise. She’d never been in Scouts.

He paused in front of his desk, and then turned back towards Charlie, a faint blush on his cheeks. “I’m _really_ going to regret asking this, but what the hell am I going to wear?” He asked with a grimace.

He swears he’s never seen her eyes light up so fast. Her responding mischievous grin was borderline evil and Dean facepalmed with a groan. Suddenly he wasn’t looking forward to tonight as much as he had been fifteen minutes ago.

 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

> **Looking forward to coming out tonight?**

  

> Hah! Duuuuh. Of course I am.

  

> But I’m equally looking forward to dinner with my baby bro beforehand :D

  

> **:O Alfie’s leaving his house?!**

  

> **How did you manage that one?!**

  

> :D With my silver tongue and superior intellect. They don’t call me Loki for nuttin’

  

> ***eyeroll* They don’t call you Loki period.**

 

> **Only** **_you_ ** **call you Loki :P**

  

> Hey! Words hurt sister!

  

> **Awwwe I’m family? I’m touched! :D**

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes affectionately. Of course she was family. Girl had a knack of worming her way into anyone’s hearts. She’d even managed to get _Naomi_ to like her, and her own kids had a hard time with that feat.

  

> Duuuuh. Of course youre family.

  

> **So… does that mean I can mooch some dinner of you guys tonight? :P**

  

Gabriel grinned. He should’ve known.

  

> Why, you strike out again with cafe girl?

  

> **... Low blow, Gabe. Low. Blow.**

 

Gabriel laughed. Cafe girl was the one person that Charlie seemed to be having  a hard time getting to like her. Which of course, made Charlie want her all the more.

  

> Heh. Sorry. :P

 

> **No youre not :(**

  

> Youre right, you caught me. I relish in your struggles oh mighty majesty :P

 

> **You’re going to get your just desserts one day. I swear**

 

Gabriel laughed again. Because it was well known by all who knew him that he liked to play his worse pranks on those who needed to be knocked down a peg or three. And that he had a knack for giving them their ‘just desserts’, or ironic punishments to fit their crimes.

“Gabriel, if you are done with your cackling - and I do not want to know what it is that has you doing so - could you please help me with the lasagna?” Castiel called from the kitchen. Gabriel sighed and got up from his seat on the living room couch.

 

> Sorry, gtg. I have received summons from Lord Cassie

 

> **Hah. Serves you right. I hope he works you to the bone. *pout***

 

> So vindictive for someone so young

 

> **:P Whatever old man. See you tonight!**

 

> Ciao! :-*

 

Gabriel pocketed his phone and looked up at Castiel. “Alright Cassie, what do you need me to do?”

Castiel sniffed at the nickname. “For one, cease calling me Cassie. For two, cut up these peppers and lay them out in strips over the cheese.”  
Gabriel grinned. “Aye aye Capitan Cassie!” He said with a two fingered salute and a horrendous accent. Castiel sighed and went about making sure the sauce was finished.

“Have you finished preparing the cobbler?” He asked tiredly, instead of futilely asking yet again to not be called Cassie.

Gabriel looked mocked offended. “Of course! What kind of baker do you think I am?”

“The kind that does not actually bake for a living?” Castiel replied, his lips quirking up into his version of a smirk.

And it was times like these that reaffirmed Castiel’s status as a smartass Novak.

Gabriel pouted, and continued his task of cutting up peppers since he didn’t have a retort for that. Castiel grinned in victory for shutting up his chatty older brother.

“Doth mine ears deceive me? Has our little brother succeeded in rendering Gabriel, self-professed Loki, the silver tongue, speechless?” A voice said from behind Gabriel and Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut. _Crap, this is going to be the story of the night_. Michael threw an arm around his shoulder from behind, while Raphael used his head as armrest. Lucifer rested his head in his hands and leaned on the island, looking at Castiel with fake rapture.

“However did you manage to accomplish this oh mighty Castiel? Tell us your secrets.” he said with awe in his voice.

Castiel dipped his fingers into the dishwater in the sink and flicked it at his second eldest brother. “Hush you. If you are not going to be of use in my kitchen, then leave.” He chastised with a grin. So of course, Lucifer just smiled sweetly and stayed where he was.

Gabriel grumbled and tried to shrug his older brothers off of him, but to no avail. So instead, Gabriel settled for trying to finish his task as quickly as possible so he could escape the kitchen until he needed to the cobbler in the oven. Finishing his task, he ducked down and under and away from his brothers, both scrambling to try to hold him so they could tease him some more. He ran out of the room, sticking his tongue out at them as he went, his brothers’ laughter in his wake

 

> Be glad you don’t have brothers

 

> **Hah! Got your just desserts I take it?**

 

> *pout* more than, I think.

 

> **Somehow, I doubt that. :P**

 

> *sniffsniff* everyone is being so mean to me today.

 

> Perhaps I should run away and join the circus.

 

> **Hah! That...actually would suit you a little bit I think…**

 

Gabriel paused and thought about it for a moment. Then shrugged and nodded.

 

> Provided I work my way up to being ringmaster pretty quick, yea probably. :P

 

> **:P I could totally see you in a ringmasters outfit**

 

Gabriel was prevented from responding by the doorbell ringing, and Thor barking and running for the door. Gabriel laughed. Obviously, today was the day for the baby brothers to get back at the older brothers. Or rather, get back at _him_.

Dinner went well. Rowdy, as it always is with the Novaks, but well. Alfie gave them all the juicy details on his new book, and regaled them with stories of Thor’s antics while they were away (one particularly memorable one involving whipped cream, a bird, and the neighbors cat, and an attempt at a restraining order against the dog), and the older Novaks returned the favour by telling him of all the crazy things that happen behind the scenes at a rock concert (their memorable story involving Gabriel -surprise surprise-, a metric ton of jelly beans -how did he get that many??-, and a swarm of over-enthusiastic groupies. Though thankfully no restraining orders).

Dinner got rowdier as evening wore on, due to Michael, Raphael, Lucifer, Castiel, and Alfie all drinking. Gabriel, however, abstained because of his intention of going to the Pit tonight, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little bit of fun his increasingly drunken brothers.

“Nooo, I meaan it. Why do you all take so much pleasure in calling me a _girl’s_ name?” Castiel was whining as Gabriel got ready to head down to the club.

“Becaaaause Cassie.” Alfie replied as Castiel pouted. “You get so adorably annoyed. If you just didn’t react we’d probably stop.”

“Say’s _you_.” slurred Lucifer. “He’s my baby brother. It’s my Chuck-given right to bug him as his older brother.”

Michael and Raphael burst into laughter. “Chuck-given right?” Castiel asked, tilting his head like a drunken confused baby bird. “What does _dad_ have to do with anything?”

Lucifer waves his arms around wildly. “You knoooow, we’re all angels, and he’s our _dad_ so therefore he’s God. So it’s not our _God_ -given right, it’s our _Chuck_ -given right.” he explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Now Castiel, Alfie, and Gabriel were joining in on the laughter. Gabriel pausing in lacing up his boots to try and catch his breath. Lucifer pouted. “Stop laughing, it totally makes sense.”

“You have the strangest sense of logic.” Castiel managed to gasp out. Lucifer slumped back into his chair and crossed his arms.

Gabriel grinned at his drunken brothers. It was good to see them all laughing and having fun. It almost made him change is mind about going to the club tonight. Almost.

“Alright boys. I’m heading out to the club now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” He said as he grabbed his keys and jacket.

“I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do.” Alfie called as Gabriel walked out the door.

Gabriel peek his head back in, and waggled his eyebrows before shutting the door.

 

Gabriel loved Club Hel. Not just because it catered to his particular kinks, but because they understood the need and desire for anonymity. They had security measures in place so people couldn’t maliciously abuse said anonymity, but they respected the fact that the outside world, the ‘muggles’, didn’t fully understand, accept, or condone BDSM activities, and that as such participating in them could lead to discrimination.

Gabriel, in particular, knew about the secret entrance where he could enter quiet and with his mask on, without drawing too much concern from the muggles at the regular entrance who were there for the main area and not the Pit. Gabriel didn’t particularly care if his fans found out that he was into BDSM, if anything it definitely wouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but what he didn’t want, was to be swarmed by said fans when he wanted to relax. Club Hel was where he came when he wanted to unwind. Being accosted by groupies was counterproductive to that. Particularly because for some reason, the majority of Angelorum Lapsus’ fans, or the Lil Demons as they liked to call themselves, were just a little crazy.

 

“Good evening Shakti.” The bouncer greeted as Gabriel allowed himself to be frisked and a picture of his disguise dujour was taken. They didn’t request that he remove the mask, they just wanted a way of identifying him if something were to happen.

“Evening Chief, how is it in there tonight?” Gabriel has he readjusted his black and gold interlaced masquerade mask. It matched his golden wings tattoo and his black jeans and black knee high boots; he’d decided to go topless today to showcase his wings, which had only just fully healed last week.

“Pretty packed. Even the muggle section is packed. You’re lucky you got here when you did. We’re almost at capacity.” Chief replied as he open the door to the Pit for Gabriel.

“Thanks, hey do you know if Her Majesty is here yet?” He asked just before the door shut.

“Sorry Shakti, you know I can’t tell you that. You’ll just have to look for her yourself.” Chief replied apologetically. “Have fun!”

 

Gabriel, checked his coat into coatcheck under the name Shakti. Kali gave him that alias when she first brought him here, it means strength in Hindi. When Gabriel asked why she picked that word for his alias, she replied “Because your name is Gabriel.” It took some time and the use of google before he realized what she meant. Gabriel meant “God is my Strength”, and she had taken the most relevant part of that phrase to her and translated it. So, here at Club Hel, he was Shakti. It wasn’t uncommon to have an alias here so he didn’t mind; even Charlie had one, and she had the least shame about the lifestyle.

Once done, donning nothing but his jeans, his boots, and his mask, Gabriel made the rounds. First in the Pit, where he had expected to find Charlie, since she was usually down here by now, and then upstairs in the muggle section. He always felt powerful here. Here, he was in his element. He was powerful, and the change in attitude made itself known in his posture and gait. He moved leisurely, and confidently, and people made way for him because of it.

 

He became aware of someone watching him. He scanned the crowd, until he found his lurker. Had he come across those vibrant emerald eyes outside of Club Hel, he would have lost his breath. As it was, he was filled with nothing but desire, and he knew that whoever those eyes belonged to now had to be his. There was just no question about it.

He stalked towards the object of his desire with singular intent. Those beautiful green eyes widened, and darkened, and he knew that he had won in that instant. Those eyes were his, and soon, the rest would follow.

Gabriel stopped a few feet away from those breathtaking eyes. He paused for a moment to take in the rest of the person that those eyes belonged too. The man before him couldn’t be more than 28, ten years his junior. Sandy coloured hair, buff physique slightly tempered by what looked like a sedentary life. He was wearing tight, forest green leather pants that left little to the imagination, which rankled Gabriel a little bit, that beautiful body should be for his pleasure alone. His top was extremely loose fitting black tank top with arm holes cut so deep that if the man moved just right, his nipples would be on display. Gabriel held back a growl at how much the man was displaying himself. _Not now, that can be fixed later_ he reassured himself.

“Follow me to the Pit.” Gabriel said lowly, but loud enough to be heard over the din of the club. Gabriel watched as the man’s breath hitched, and he nodded.

 

“Shakti!!!” A loud cheery voice exclaimed, breaking the reverie that was caught between the two men. Gabriel looked up at the annoying distraction only to recognize Charlie rushing up to hug him. He hurriedly caught her before she bowled them both over. “You made it! I was worried you were going to get stuck outside in the line! When did you get here?” the little redheaded cockblock rambled.

Gabriel blinked a few times to try and clear his head so he could answer her, making sure not to look at the green-eyed beauty, because he was sure he’d get lost in him again if he did. He looked down at Charlie and found he was able to ground himself for a moment. He smiled and hugged her back. “I got here maybe about fifteen minutes ago. And apparently I made it just in time, Chief said that if I had arrived any later I’d’ve been stuck outside.” He responded. She gave him one last squeeze before backing off. He cleared his throat, “So, is this the cute friend you mentioned?” He asked, chancing a glance at the beautiful man beside her. He breathed a tiny sigh of relief at the realization that as long as he didn’t look him directly in his eyes, he wouldn’t get lost.

The man flushed a delicious shade of pink at being called cute, while Charlie laughed and nodded her head. “Yeah, Viridis this is Shakti. Shakti, this is Viridis.” She introduced stepping back a half step with a grin on her face as they got lost in each other’s eyes once more.

 

“So, uh Shaquee?” Dean asked clearing his throat, looking down to try and find some respite from the man’s intense golden gaze. The man chuckled lowly. “Shak-Tee, S-H-A-K-T-I.” He clarified. “It’s a bit of a mouthful I know. But you’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”

Dean shivered at the double entendre. He looked up at the man, Shakti, again, trying desperately to stay grounded this time. Shakti smiled, “Viridis.” He breathed, and Dean shivered. “Very fitting, given your eyes.” Shakti commented.

Dean smiled this time, “You know Latin?”

Shakti laughed, “With my upbringing it was pretty much a must.”

Dean loved his laugh, he’d do anything to hear it again. “Religious?” he asked.

“Very.” Shakti replied, with a smile.

 

Gabriel was falling in love with Viridis’ smile. _Whoaaah down boy. Falling in_ **_love_ ** _? Let’s slow the roll a little shall we?_ He looked over at Charlie to try to clear his mind of the sudden sappiness that was filling his head. But she was just grinning at the two of them knowingly. _Shit._ Gabriel groaned to himself. _We’ve been set up._

 

Dean watched as Shakti look at Charlie and grimace slightly. Curious, Dean followed his gaze, only to find Charlie grinning at him like a fool. He facepalmed. He pointed a finger at her. “You promised.” He accused quietly, vaguely aware that Shakti was looking at him questioningly. Charlie just cackled, and bounced back to melt into the crowd. The last thing he heard from her before she disappeared completely was “Scout’s honor!” followed by another cackle.

Dean groaned and rubbed his face with a hand before chancing another look at Shakti, praying he didn’t get lost in his eyes again, praying that he could diffuse this before he did something stupid. Again.

“She promised?” Shakti asked, with a smirk.

Dean returned the smirk ruefully, “uhhh yeah, she uhh promised she wouldn’t play matchmaker with me my first night back,” he clarified.

Shakti’s smirk widened. “And I take it she said Scout’s honor?”

Dean full on smiled now. “Yeah.”

Shakti laughed. “And you took her on her word? I thought she said you two were friends?” He teased.

Dean felt a reluctant blush heat his cheeks. “Yeah, uhh well, I guess I kind of hoped she’d go easy on me since it’s my first time back in a while.”

Shakti laughed again. “Have you _met_ Her Majesty?”

Dean laughed this time. “Yeah, yeah. I should’ve known better. Really, I should have resigned myself when she picked out this outfit.” He said gesturing at the skin tight pants and the ridiculously loose tank top.

Shakti growled, startling Dean slightly. “ _She_ picked this out?” he asked lowly.

Dean squirmed a little at the sudden possessiveness apparent in Shakti’s voice. It should really bother him, since they only just met, but Dean found himself chubbing up a little, making already tight pants even tighter. “Uhh y-yeah. She did. I’m more of a jeans and rock concert t-shirt kind of guy normally.” He stuttered in response.

Shakti seemed to take a moment to try and compose himself.

 

**_Down boy_ ** _._ Gabriel chastised himself. _You_ **_just_ ** _met the man. Don’t go scaring him off in the first meeting_. He took a steadying breath before he looked back at Viridis. He was finally being able to look in his eyes without getting utterly and completely lost. His own eyes could help but run across Viridis’ body appreciatively. When his gaze zeroed in on one of the more interesting parts of his body, Gabriel couldn’t help but notice Viridis’ arousal. Gabriel shivered. At least he wasn’t the only one here that was being affected.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Do you, um, want to go down to the Pit?” he asked this time. Now that he was outside of the intense singular concentration, he felt a little bit less confident, a little bit less powerful.

 

Dean squirmed a little when he noticed Shakti staring at his crotch, and looked down to notice that Shakti was just as affected as he. That made him feel a little bit better. Especially when Shakti stuttered through asking him to go to the Pit with him. Asked, not demanded this time. Though, Dean found it no less hot this time than he had when Shakti first ordered him to follow him to th Pit.

“Ummm, ye-yeah. Let’s go. If not at least to get away from the muggles for a little bit.” Dean said with a shy grin. He wasn't sure if he was ready to jump into anything right now. Especially if just looking at each other was this intense. If it was this intense now, how intense would a fucking _scene_ be?

Dean started to follow Shakti into the crowd, only, he didn’t have the same sort of presence that Shakti seemed to have, and was soon lagging behind as the crowd closed in behind Shakti. Dean would have been worried about losing him, but he knew that they were heading to the same place and that they could more easily find each other once they got to the Pit. Which was way he was slightly startled when a hand closed around his wrist and he found himself once more face to face with Shakti.

_Oh. Fuck._

Just the simple touch of Shakti’s hand on Dean’s wrist sent Dean’s halfchub into a thing of the past. _Shit, yeah. Totally not scening tonight. Fuck. If just an innocuous touch like this can cause this kind of reaction, I’ll be comatose by the end of a scene._

 

Gabriel let go of Viridis’ wrist like he had been burnt. All Gabriel had wanted to do was make sure they didn’t lose each other. But the moment Gabriel’s hand enclosed Viridis’ wrist, Viridis began to pant, and his eyes were so dark that the beautiful green of his irises were almost completely eclipsed. Gabriel’s hand had caused an instant reaction in the younger man and fuck if that didn’t do things to Gabriel.

“Ummm, uhhh.” Gabriel said intelligently. “M-maybe we should go find Her Majesty, yeah?” He finally managed to suggest.

Viridis numbly nodded. Gabriel mimicked him and scanned the crowd looking for Charlie. They needed the little redheaded cockblock to temper these intense feelings. Otherwise, they might both do something they regretted. And the last thing Gabriel wanted to do was scare Viridis off.

 

Dean watched Shakti as he scanned the crowd, looking for Charlie. God he was going to _murder_ her. Dean wasn’t ready for this kind of shit. All he wanted to do was have a nice relaxing evening with his friends. This? This was far too fucking intense. This wasn’t relaxing at all.

Shakti seemed to have spotted her, and gently tapped a single finger on Dean’s shoulder to gain his attention (thank god that that seemed to be innocent enough to not cause a reaction), and pointed to the direction of the Pit’s entrance where Charlie appeared to be loitering nearby. Dean nodded and the two made their way to her. This time, Shakti allowed them to get separated by the crowd, trusting Dean to find his way to Charlie on his own.

 

Gabriel weaved his way through the crowd towards Charlie, he kept an eye on Viridis to make sure no one harassed him on his way, but he kept his hands to himself this time. Whatever it was between them was too intense. Gabriel didn’t get it. And frankly it was starting to freak him out a bit. The last time he’d felt this intensely about someone was...never. Part of him wanted to just slip right by Charlie and out the door and run. But another part of him wanted him to stay, wanted him to not miss out on such a rare and precious opportunity.

Opportunity for what? Gabriel wasn’t sure yet. But whatever it would be would be intense and amazing.

The part of him that wanted to stay won out, and Gabriel found himself standing next to Charlie, with Dean suddenly by his side. Charlie had been chatting up this pretty little pink-haired girl(?) wearing a tutu and a bunny masquerade mask with vibrant pink lipstick. Charlie took one look at the pair and the laugh on her lips died almost instantly.

“Excuse me sweetheart, but I’ve got to deal with something. Meet you in the Pit later?” She said to the Bunny, who looked curiously at Gabriel and Viridis before nodding slowly and walking down to the Pit.

“What’s wrong?” Charlie asked the pair softly.

Viridis glanced toward Gabriel, but didn’t meet his eyes. “I...umm. I-it’s...t-this…” Viridis couldn’t seem to be able to make a coherent sentence.

Charlie glanced at Gabriel alarmed. Obviously this wasn’t the younger man’s normal behavior. Gabriel grimaced and looked down. _Fuck_.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “Maybe I should go” he suggested lowly. Charlie looked at him sympathetically, but nodded. “I’ll text you, okay.” She said softly. She gave Gabriel a hug, and whispered, “This isn’t your fault Gabe. This is all on me. I’m sorry.” Gabriel nodded minutely before letting go. “Umm do you think it would be okay if I went to the Pit”, he asked softly. Softly enough so that hopefuly only Charlie could hear. Charlie bit her lip and looked at Viridis and contemplated for a moment, before nodding. Viridis meanwhile, was studiously looking at his feet like they held the answers to the universe.  
“Yeah,” she whispered, “I think I’m just gonna take him home. You think you could tell that cute bunny I’ll be here next week?” She asked. Gabriel nodded. She smiled sadly. “Thanks. Come on Viridis, let’s get you outta here.” She said, gently laying a hand on Viridis’ bicep, leading him towards the main entrance. She turned and waved goodbye to Gabriel. Gabriel waved back until the pair melted into the crowd.

Gabriel looked down. “Fuck.” He stomped off towards the Pit. Now he _really_ needed to let off some steam.

 

Dean followed Charlie out hollowly, not even bothering to look at Shakti. He couldn’t he hated the fact that he was being so fucking weak. There was no way that Shakti was ever going to be interested in him now. He numbly followed Charlie as she grab their things from coat check and sat him in her car (thank god they’d carpooled, there was no way he was in any condition to drive Baby right now). He looked out the window unseeingly as she drove him home.

He must have really zoned out because suddenly he found himself sitting on his couch with Charlie’s concerned face in front of his, and he became aware that she was talking.

“Dean? Dean come back to me okay? It’s okay, you’re home, it’s all okay.” she was saying softly over and over again.

“How is this all okay?” he said hoarsely. “I made a complete fool of myself. He’ll never want me now.” His vision was blurring and realized that he was starting to tear up. He furiously blinked and wiped away the tears with the heels of his palms.

Charlie looked at him stunned. “ _That’s_ what you’re worried about?” She asked incredulously. “Oh sweetheart, you don’t have to worry about that. He’s just as head over heels over you as you are over him.”

Dean looked at her skeptically. He scoffed. “Right. As if he’d want a basket case like me after that display.” He abruptly stood up. “I _knew_ this was bad idea. I _knew_ it was too soon. I should have just stayed home and worked on the stupid fucking project.” he ranted, voice steadily rising as he paced around his living room. “I was a fucking _fool_ to think I’d be ready to go back this soon. It’s just like _He_ said. I’m broken, I’m weak, I’m nothing but a slut -”

“Whoa whoa whoa! Stop right there!” Charlie ordered, stepping in front of Dean and grabbing his shoulders. Dean was full on crying now. He hadn’t even realized that he’d started. “That asshole is _never_ right. _Nothing_ he said is true. You got me?” Charlie said sternly. Dean looked morosely at her through his tear-filled eyes. “B-but, I can’t even... All he did was touch my _wrist_ , Charlie.” he protested. “That’s _all_ it took to get me going. All he had to do was _look_ at me to get me want to drop to my knees in front of him.”

Charlie looked confused. “Who? You mean Shakti?” she asked.

“Yes! Shakti! All he had to do was look at me from the other side of the club and I was _his_. How does that not make what Alastair said true?” He demanded. Fresh tears were flowing freely again.

Charlie sighed. And pulled Dean back down unto the couch to hold him in a tight embrace, and Dean allowed himself to be held. “Just because you felt an instant fairy tale attraction doesn’t mean that you’re nothing but a slut sweetheart. It just means that you found something that the rest of us are all desperately looking for.” She said softly.

Dean looked stunned. “F-fairy tale?” he stuttered.

Charlie chuckled. “Yeah sweetheart, you know, most people would call what you just experienced love at first sight.” She answered, smiling. “And you know what, I think given what I saw, I think he felt the same.”

Dean ran the sequence of events in his head. And with Charlie’s explanation as filter, it did make sense. More sense than what Alastair’s voice was telling him in his head. And then he remembered .

“Shit.” He swore softly. Charlie tightened her arms around him. “What sweetheart?”

“The Pit.” He said resignedly. “He went back to the Pit when we left. I’ve lost him.”

Charlie chuckled again. “Sweetheart, you guys have barely even talked. You can’t expect him to wait. I think he was pretty pissed off at himself, I think he thinks he scared you off. From what I remember, he can be pretty possessive with his long term partners. He probably thinks he was too intense for you, and went off to try and let off some steam.”

“Well he’s not wrong about the intense part. I’ve never felt anything that intense...ever.” Dean mumbled, and Charlie smiled into his hair.

“Do you want me to give him your real name, and contact info?” She asked softly. “It’s okay if you don’t by the way.”

Dean was quiet for a moment as he thought about it. “C-can I have a few days to decide?” He asked softly. “I just, it was just so intense. I - I think I need to calm down a bit more still.” Charlie smiled, silently proud of Dean’s own self-awareness. That kind of thing was vital in this kind of lifestyle. “Sure thing. And if he asks me about you? Remember he’s my friend too right?” She reminded him.

Dean hummed. “Ask him if he can be patient. I - I think I _want_ to explore things with him. B-but I still need some time. I need to go slow I think.”

She smiled. “Okay. If he asks I’ll ask him to be patient with you.”

Dean was starting to nod off. “Do...do you think he’ll actually ask?” he slurred sleepily.

She chuckled softly. “Yeah sweetheart, I think he will. I don’t think you realized how he was looking at you.”

Dean snuffled a little bit, nuzzling closer to Charlie. “H-how was…he looking...at me?” He asked around multiple yawns.

“Like you were the sun and the moon.” He thought he heard her reply as he drifted off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments, and Kudos are life! Please keep me alive! <3 :P 
> 
> Let me know what you think. This is my first actual foray into Debriel so constructive feedback is definitely definitely welcome <3
> 
> Love y'all  
> -X


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabe and Dean try and work things out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voila!  
> Again, this is completely unbeta'd and all mistakes are mine and google docs' because for the life of me I can't get it to format properly when I copy and paste over to ao3. 
> 
> Also, I keep wanting to implement 2017 tech into the story and then remembering that I'm writing it from a 2005 POV, so....sorry if theres inconsistencies :P ....just...pretend its an alternate universe where they're _slightly_ more technologically advanced in this timeline :P and I'll try harder to keep it time relevent :P

The next morning and well into the afternoon the Novak household was tense, and silent. Gabriel had stomped in around one o’clock in the morning, downed half a bottle of whiskey, slamming cupboards and swearing all the while and then promptly passed out on the living room couch.

 

Michael, Raphael, Lucifer, Castiel, and Alfie (who had slept over after drinking way too much for his older brothers to expect him to make it home safely) stood around the couch looking at Gabriel worriedly, before retreating to the kitchen.

“What the hell do you think happened?” Michael whispered urgently, looking around at his brothers. “I mean, usually he comes home from the club all blissed out and relaxed. Not that I’ve ever felt comfortable with the idea of the club, but I’ve never seen him like this.”

Castiel frowned. “Indeed. He wasn’t even like this when Kali and he broke up, and they’d been together for a long time.”

The brothers froze as they heard rustling in the living room. They waited a moment, worried they’d woken Gabriel up, but apparently he had just been shifting in his sleep.

Alfie chewed nervously on his lip. “Y-you don’t think that maybe a scene got too intense do you? Like, landed-in-the-hospital intense?” He hesitantly asked.

The older brothers looked at each other, contemplating the question. Lucifer shook his head finally. “No, if by some strange happenstance that something happened despite all of Gabriel’s precautions and that had been the case, then he’d have called us. If a scene got that intense then there would have been a chance of some publicity fallout, and he would have given us a heads up about something like that,” he said with confidence, Michael, Raphael, and Castiel all nodding in agreement.

“And if I ended up killing someone I’d need someone to help me bury the body.” Gabriel’s sleep and hungover rough voice came from behind the brothers. The brothers startled, and turned towards the voice. Gabriel was leaning against the entranceway to the kitchen with his arms crossed. He quirked an eyebrow at his gossiping brothers, and pushed himself off the entranceway with his hip and moved passed them, making a beeline for the fresh coffee that Castiel had put on moments before.

“Sorry about last night. I swear no one is in the hospital, at least not with any of my involvement, and no one is dead. Just...last night was more...frustrating that I thought it was going to be. And I don’t _particularly_ feel like talking about it. Okay?” Gabriel said as he poured himself a mug of coffee and slumped down at the kitchen island.

Gabriel’s brothers loitered awkwardly before Gabriel rolled his eyes. “And when I say that I don’t particularly want to talk about, what I really mean is I _really_ . _Don’t. Want. To talk about it._ So feel free to go about your daily business, I’m going to sit here and nurse my hangover, thanks.”

For a moment there was an awkward pause, half of Gabriel’s brothers wanted to push the issue, and the other half didn’t really know what to do with themselves. They were saved from having to make a decision when Alfie’s phone went off. Startled, Alfie fumbled to answer it. “H-hello?” He said as he walked out of the kitchen. The phone call seemed to prompt the others into action. Michael and Castiel decided to make a late brunch, seeing as while everyone else’s hangovers had had a bit of time to dissipate, no one had really eaten yet. Lucifer mumbled something about needing to go over the sheet music for a new song he was working on. And Raphael quietly disappeared into his room, texting away on his phone.

Seeing Raphael text reminded Gabriel that he didn’t charge his phone last night, which meant that he probably missed Charlie’s text message. If she sent one that is.

> **Hey. Are you ok?**
> 
> **Did you make it home ok?**
> 
> **Gabe?**

Gabriel smiled. Of course, the first thing she’d ask him is if he’s okay. As if he didn’t just completely overwhelm her friend on his first night back at the club.

> I’m fine. A lil hungover but fine.
> 
> How’s Viridis? Did YOU guys make it home ok?

Gabriel went to lay down on his bed. He’d slept a good 12 hours, but after everything that went down last night, plus all that he’d drank after he let off a bit of steam in the Pit, he was still feeling exhausted. His phone beeped.

 

> **You drank? I thought you went to the Pit after we left?**
> 
> I did. And after I went and had some drinks upstairs.
> 
> And Viridis? Is he ok?

Gabriel waiting an agonizing three minutes for Charlie to respond.

 

> **Yes. He’s ok now.**

He sighed quietly with relief.

 

> Thanks. That’s good to know.

He contemplated for a moment before sending the next text.

 

> Could you tell him I’m sorry. I dont know how it got so intense so fast.
> 
> I’m sorry if I triggered him or something.

Gabriel hesitated, chewing on his bottom lip. _Should I?_ He shook his head to clear it. Well, the absolute worse that could happen here is that he says no… 

 

> I’d like to make it up to him. But only if he wants to and only if he feels safe.
> 
> So..um.. You can give him my real name & ph.#
> 
> if he doesnt wanna see me again, I get it. So no hard feelings.

There wasn’t a response for a while, and Gabriel was beginning to doze off again when Charlie finally did respond.

 

> **Do you want me to give him full name or just 1st name?**

Gabriel shrugged. Viridis didn’t seem like the stalker/creeper type.

 

> Up 2 u. But dont if u thnk itll make him feel like he has 2

Gabriel was getting sleepy again. He always got lazy with his texts when he got sleepy.

 

> **Ok sweetheart. I’ll let him know.**
> 
> **Go sleep. Youre typing funny again :P**

Gabriel smirked. Charlie was in aftercare dom!mode clearly. That’s the only time she ever uses the word sweetheart.

 

> K. Nite nite. Ttyl
> 
> **Good night Gabriel.**

And having done all that he felt that he could to make the situation better, he let himself doze without the aid of alcohol this time.

 

Charlie leaned back in Dean’s lazy boy. Dean was still fast asleep on the couch where he had conked out last night. After Charlie had extricated herself from him, she went and found his fluffiest blanket and tucked him in, smiling as he nuzzled into it.

She’d spent most of the night berating herself. She had set them up last night, even though Dean had asked not to be set up. Even though it was still clear to everyone that Dean was still recovering from Alastair’s influence. She shouldn’t have left them alone, she shouldn’t have ditched him like she had.

But she had honestly felt that Gabe would probably be good for Dean. Gabriel was strong, patient, loving, and protective. Yeah, he could get a tad possessive but more often than not it was in a sexy growly way. (Yes she was gay. But being growly was universally sexy regardless of what private bits you had.) There’s no way she could’ve honestly predicted how intense it could get between them. Especially if the two of them couldn’t figure out how it had gotten so intense.

She looked over at Dean peacefully snoring away, she really really hoped that he and Gabe could work things out. Dean was such a sweetie (as much as he liked to hide behind his macho persona) and totally deserved to be with someone as equally kind-hearted as Gabe. She sighed. Sometimes  she rued her matchmaking tendencies.

 

Dean awoke slowly, groaning. He felt groggy, like he often did the morning after scenes with Alastair. He bolted up at that thought, breathing hard. _Alastair? Fuck! What did he do? Shitshitshit. What did_ **_I_ ** _do?_

“Hey hey hey. Shhshh it’s okay, you’re okay, you’re home. You’re _safe_.” He heard to his side and suddenly Charlie’s concerned face was swimming in front of his.

He blinked. He was safe? Alastair wasn’t here? Wait, if Alastair was here, why is Charlie?

He took a deep breath as he slowly came to his senses, realizing that he was home, safe, and with Charlie, and then again as he remembered the events of the night prior that caused him to be in this state.

“Charlie?” He said in a small voice.

“Hey there sweetheart.” Charlie said with a smile. “You’re doing alright.” It wasn’t a question, but he nodded anyway.

“Thanks for staying the night.” He said, moving to get up. Charlie laid a gentle hand on his chest, and handed him a cup of coffee from the coffee table behind her.

“It’s no big.” She smiled, eyeing him carefully, making sure that he was indeed doing alright. He took a sip of the coffee, it was just the way he liked it, not too hot and with just a tiny bit of sugar. He smiled at his best friend for remembering how he liked it.

He cleared his throat, realizing he was the verge of a chickflick moment, and last night had already went over his quota for the month. “So, uh, what’s your plan today? I should be fine today. I shouldn’t need a babysitter.” He said with a smirk.

Charlie scoffed, standing up. “Hmph, well I shall be the judge of that.” She said, and walked back imperiously over to her laptop on Dean’s lazy boy. Dean raised an eyebrow. Just how long had he been sleeping? He looked at the clock on the dvd player and the other eyebrow joined the first. Four o’clock in the afternoon!? He gaped at Charlie. “I slept all day!?” He exclaimed. She laughed.

“Sweetheart, you needed it. Not only did you have one hell of an experience last night, but you’ve been pulling in some crazy hours for this project at work. And I _know_ you’ve been putting in more hours than you’ve been telling Ellen about.” She finished sternly, the look on her face challenging him to deny it. He deflated, knowing it was no use. It’s not like he could go back in time and wake himself up earlier. He sighed.

“This is totally going to mess with my sleep schedule,” he groaned, resting his head on the back of the couch.

Charlie hummed unsympathetically. “You’ll deal. You needed the sleep.” They sat in silence for a little bit, Charlie doing whatever she did on the weekends on her laptop, and Dean quietly drinking his coffee, until Charlie cleared her throat and squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. Dean looked her quizzically.

“So, um, Shakti texted me a couple hours ago,” she began, and Dean began to sweat and his breath quickened minutely. “he told me to tell you he was sorry-” Dean blinked, _Shakti_ was sorry? What in the world did he have to be _sorry_ for? Dean was the one who had freaked out. “- he said he doesn’t know how things got so intense so fast, and that he’s sorry if he triggered you.” She hesitated for a moment before continuing. “And he said that he wants to make it up to you-” Dean scoffed quietly, and Charlie paused, unsure. _As if someone as perfect as he has anything to make up for,_ Dean thought. Charlie continued slowly when it seemed clear that Dean wasn’t going to elaborate, “but only if you want to, and only if you feel safe. He said I could give you his real name and his phone number.” She finished, watching Dean carefully.

Dean took a moment before he responded, knowing that Charlie would appreciate a more thought-out response. On one hand, Dean really really liked Shakti, and wanted more of whatever happened last night. On the other, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for it, or ready for the whole “love at first sight” thing that Charlie said it was. He wasn’t ready for something serious. Hell, all he had wanted last night was a little bit of casual fun.

Dean hummed, taking another swig of his coffee. “I’ll take his phone number, but not his name. If we do this, I want it to be casual.” He said finally.

Charlie let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She’d been half expecting Dean to just outright say no. She nodded with a small smile. “I’ll text you his number. Just let him know that you’re not ready to share real names yet then okay?” She said. He nodded and looked for his phone.

“It’s in your room, charging. Oh and Sam texted you. I told him you were okay, and sleeping. He was wondering how your first night back at the club went. I figured you didn’t really want him to know, so I didn’t give him any details.” She said, pulling her phone out of her pocket to send Dean the phone number. Dean grimaced, knowing that Sam would be worrying, especially since it wasn’t Dean himself who replied, and he wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. “Thanks Charlie,” he called behind him as he got up and walked to his room.

“Mmhmm” he got in reply.

 

> **Tell him to call me when he wakes up**

Was the first message on the screen when he checked his phone. The second being Charlie’s message:

 

> **Here’s his number ;)**

Followed by a third message with the phone number. Dean gulped and added to his contacts under ‘Shakti’ and sent him a text.

 

> Hi Shakti, It’s Viridis. 

 

Gabriel woke blearily at the ping, and blinked at his screen before bolting upright. He gaped at the text message. He honestly hadn’t expected Viridis to actually contact him. But...Why was he using their club names? Hadn’t Charlie given Viridis his real name?

 

> Hi Viridis. Im glad to hear from you. I didnt think you would actually contact me after last night.

He paused a moment before sending:

 

> Umm, Charlie didn’t give you my real name?

He figured it was safe to use Charlie’s real name, considering they both knew her outside of the club after all. He waited impatiently for the returning text.

 

Dean looked at Shakti’s question, trying to figure out how to answer it. It was obvious that he was interested, considering how quickly he had responded to Dean’s text messages. But Dean still wasn’t sure if he wanted to share real names yet.

 

> No. She told me you offered your real name and ph # but I told her I just wanted your ph #
> 
> ...I don’t think I’m ready to share real names yet…

 

Gabriel sighed, well, at least it was a step. And at least this way he’d know that Viridis was talking to him because he wanted to, not because he felt starstruck or something. Gabriel paused in thought, _that’s assuming he even knows about Angelorum Lapsus to begin with. Chuck, I’m getting arrogant._ He scoffed at himself disgustedly. Before blinking and laughing, apparently Luci’s drunken comment last night had stuck with him.

 

> Ok, Whatever makes you feel most comfortable
> 
> I really am sorry about last night and I do want to make it up to you somehow
> 
> I dont know how it got so intense
> 
> Ive never had that happen before

 

Dean found himself smiling at Shatki’s multiple texts. Apparently someone was a rambler when nervous.

 

> **Shit, Im rambling arent I?**
> 
> **Seriously, stop me anytime now.**

Dean outright laughed now. (Charlie smiled from her seat in the living room.)

 

> Nah, its comforting to know you do something as human as ramble

Dean blinked, he was teasing Shakti. Why couldn’t he have been like this in person last night?

 

Gabriel blinked at Viridis’ teasing reply. Apparently he had a high opinion of Gabriel, if rambling was humanizing to him.

 

> Glad to know one of us is getting something other than embarrassment out my rambling
> 
> So, if you’d rather not share real names, I take it you’d rather I keep my mask on as well?

 

Dean chewed on his lip thoughtfully.

 

> Only if you think it’d give away your name

 

Gabriel smiled.

 

> It might, not sure what circles you run in
> 
> But given we share Charlie as a friend, its possible we’ve run into each other before.

 

Dean chuckled.

 

> I think I wouldve recognized someone like you, but good point.
> 
> **So, only meet at the club then? Until we feel comfortable to share real names?**

Dean paused thoughtfully, and then nodded to himself.

 

> Ya, sounds like a plan.

 

Gabriel smiled, glad that he hadn’t completely lost out on Viridis. It had been so long since someone had made him feel so much feeling as Viridis had. The closest feeling he can compare it to was the first time Angelorum Lapsus performed in front of a crowd of thousands, only to discover that the crowd knew the all of the lyrics to one of the songs that _he_ wrote. Before Viridis, he’d never known such an intense feeling in his life.

He hesitated before sending the next text, not sure if it was asking too soon, but honestly, there was nowhere else to go in the conversation at this point.

 

> So, um, when is the next time you think you’ll go?

 

Dean hesitated. Not sure how to answer the question. Honestly, he wanted to stay as far away from the club as possible, but he knew was being a little overdramatic about it. Especially since Dean had _just_ agreed that only meeting at the club was a good plan if they weren’t going to share real names yet.

He got up, and walked to the door of his room, and leaned on the frame trying to look casual before he asked, “So, is the club still super dead on Sunday nights?”

Charlie looked up at him in surprise, raising an eyebrow. “Yes,” she began slowly, “Why?”

Dean nodded, still portraying an image of nonchalance, “No reason.” he replied, turning to go back into his room.

Charlie was at his side in a flash (how the hell does she move that fast and quietly??), and had a hand on his elbow. “Nuh-uh, you ain’t getting off that easy. Why do you ask?” She pressed, though there was a hint of a smile in her voice, and the corners of her lips were twitching.

Dean flushed. But he knew he wasn’t getting out of this. “Just trying to find a good mutual space to meet Shakti.” he said in a quiet voice, not meeting her eyes.

Charlie whooped, punching the air. Dean wiped his face with one hand, embarrassed. “Shuddup will you? Or I’m gonna chicken out.” He muttered and she dutifully went quiet, making a zipping and locking and throwing away the key motion over her lips. Dean rolled his eyes and went back into his room and sat on his bed with his phone, immediately smiling at the numerous messages on his phone.

 

> **Its okay if you want to wait awhile, Id totally get it if youd need some time**
> 
> **Seriously, no hard feelings.**
> 
> **Shit, did I scare you off again?**

Dean laughed out loud at that last one, and here he was worried last night that _he’d_ scared Shakti off last night. Looks like Shakti was worried about the same thing.

 

> No no, was just asking Charlie how quiet sunday nights were at the club.
> 
> Of course, you can guess the kind of reaction that got out of her. :-/ :-P

 

Gabriel laughed, partially in relief, at Viridis’ replies. He’d honestly thought that maybe he’d scared him off again.

 

> Ohh she was must doing her smug little matchmaker dance isnt she?
> 
> **She tried, but she settled down when I said Id chicken out if she kept it up :P**
> 
> Hahaha, I bet that shut her up good.

Gabriel paused thoughtfully.

 

> So….you dont have to answer this, but how often has she set you up?
> 
> I swear shes introducing me to someone new each time we run into each other at the club

 

Dean bit his lip, noticing that twinge of jealousy at Charlie introducing Shakti to people. He shook his head, trying to chase away the green-eyed monster (yes, he’s had that joke made on him, and he hates it).

 

> Uhhh ya, shes tried to set me up a few times.
> 
> She fancies herself a cupid
> 
> So..um..sunday?

Dean chewed his lip nervously.

 

Gabriel, not knowing that his question had elicited a jealous reaction from Viridis, found himself feeling jealous at Viridis’ response that Charlie had tried setting him up with others too. He shook his head, mirroring Viridis’ attempts at shaking away the jealous feeling, before he responded.

 

> Yes! Im down. And nothing big, just chatting and drinks?

 

Dean sighed a breath of relief at Shakti’s obvious enthusiam, and at the suggestion of it being lowkey.

 

> Ya sounds good.
> 
> 9 work?
> 
> They still serve food in the muggle section right?

 

Gabriel smiled.

 

> Why, Viridis, are you asking me to dinner?

 

Dean flushed at Shakti’s teasing.

 

> Sh. Or I’ll chicken out.

 

Gabriel laughed, and imagined what Charlie would have done in response to the same phrase.

 

> *zips lips and locks and throws away the key*

 

Dean laughed, and Charlie peeked in, smiling at how well the conversation seemed to be going.

 

> Oh god you poor soul. Youve been friends with Charlie too long.

 

Gabriel smiled.

 

> *gasp* sacrilege! I shall tell her Majesty!

 

Dean laughed again

 

> Noooo! I shall be punished til no end!

 

Gabriel laughed, and his brothers peeked into his room curiously, wondering at what had changed his mood so drastically.

 

> *smirks evilly* And it shall be a just punishment

 

Dean was full-on giggling now, and Charlie was leaning against his doorframe smirking while recording the event on her phone, but Dean was so immersed in his conversation with Shakti that he still hadn’t noticed her standing there.

 

> Nooooo! I beg you, have mercy!

 

Gabriel was still laughing on his end. And Cas was walking into the room, moving to his side to try and peek at the text messages that were so obviously improving his older brother’s mood. Gabriel pulled his phone to his chest and narrowed his eyes at his brother, making a shooing motion. “Go on you. If you all want to know so badly I’ll tell you guys later.” He said, waiting until they reluctantly left his room before turning back to his phone.

 

> *contemplates pompously* Hmmm perhaps I shall show mercy. This time…

 

Dean was still giggling, but stopped mid-giggle when he noticed Charlie standing at his doorway, phone in hand aimed at him.

“You didn’t” he said slowly, horrified.

Charlie smirked. “Sam isn’t going to be believe me otherwise,” she responded slyly.

“You little!” He shouted, shooting out of bed and lunging at her. She squealed and ran into the living room, as Dean chased her.

“It’s too late! It’s been backed up to my computer already!” She shrieked as she ran around the coffee table, and hopped over the back of the couch, Dean on her tail.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t punish you for it!” He shouted in reply, spinning gracefully and catching her off guard, grabbing her around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder while she kicked at him uselessly.

“Noooo!” She shrieked, giggling as he threw her onto his bed, and proceeded to tickle her.

“Delete it!” He demanded

“Never!” Charlie gasped, trying to writhe away from him, but Dean was too fast for her, and had her pinned on her stomach, tickling her mercilessly.

“Delete it! And I’ll stop,” he said, fingers dancing along her sides and under her arms.

“Okay okay! Uncle! Uncle! I’ll delete it!” she finally relented, and Dean let up, grinning victoriously. He got off her and followed her to her computer to watch her delete the backed up version, and nodded at her phone, indicating her to delete the original too. She pouted, obviously hoping she could get away with keeping it, and deleted that one too. Dean nodded satisfied, and swaggered back off into his room, where he had dropped his phone in favor of chasing Charlie.

He looked at the screen of his phone and smiled.

 

> **Too much?**
> 
> No, I just had to deal with Charlie.
> 
> **??**
> 
> **Do I want to know?**
> 
> It’s nothing. She may have been attempting to gather some slightly incriminating evidence on me.
> 
> But shes been dealt with

> ***raises eyebrow* incriminating evidence?**
> 
> **Now Im intrigued. What kind of evidence would she be gathering?**

Dean scoffed

 

> Psh, like Im telling.
> 
> That would defeat the purpose of dealing with Charlie.
> 
> **Hmmm, well I suppose I’ll have to go straight to the source wont i?**
> 
> ***evil smirk***

Dean shouted over to Charlie, “You tell him anything I swear I’ll tell him about that incident at my second Moon Door meet!”

 

> *pout* you and charlie are going to be the death of me arent you?
> 
> **:D we’ve been known to be a force to be reckoned with**

Charlie’s face appeared at his door way, pale. “You wouldn’t. You swore you wouldn’t tell a soul,” she said pointing a shaky finger at him.

Dean smirked. “Then I suppose you have some incentive to not tell him then don’t you?”

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him. “You drive a hard bargain, Winchester. I’ll remember this the next time you need a favor.”

Dean gave her one of his winning grins. “Aww, you love me and you know it.” Charlie kept her eyes narrowed at him as she slowly backed out of his room.

Dean chuckled, and looked back at his phone, before out right laughing. 

 

> **Shit. What do you have on her?!**
> 
> Sorry, can’t tell. Defeats the purpose of holding it over her head. :P
> 
> ***pout* but I want to know the good dirt.**

Dean smiled.

 

> Dont worry, Ive got plenty. I just cant share that particular one.

Dean looked at his the time, and sighed as he figured he should get up and go for a run. Especially since he slept all day. As much as he’d love to just keep chatting with Shakti all day, he should at least do _something_ with what’s left of his day.

 

> So...sunday, 9pm, muggle section, food and drinks?
> 
> Same outfits as last night so we can recognize each other?

Dean blushed, remembering what he had worn.

 

> Or...you know...maybe something more casual…?

 

Gabriel smiled.

 

> Whatever makes you feel most comfortable. I can go jeans and a black tee with the same mask?

 

Dean smiled gratefully.

 

> Sounds good. I’ll wear a black band tee and black jeans.
> 
> I’ll try and sit in the same spot as last time?
> 
> **Ok. Sounds like a plan. See you then.**

 

Gabriel nibbled his lip for a second before sending the next message.

 

> Im looking forward to it.
> 
> **:) me too.**

Gabriel sighed a breath of relief, before smiling, getting up off his bed to go into the kitchen to grab himself a bite to eat.

Gabriel entered the room to find his brothers surrounding the island conspiratorily, much like he found them earlier on that day. Only now, Gabriel was whistling happily as he opened the fridge to make himself a snack, having missed late brunch earlier due to his nap. He danced to the tune he was whistling, wiggling his butt, as he bent down to grab the ingredients he wanted, and then muscled his way between Michael and Raphael as he placed his ingredients down on the island, and turned to grab a plate and some utensils, completely ignoring his brothers gaping at him.

“Alright, spill.” Castiel said after a few minutes of the brothers watching Gabriel incredulously as he made himself a sandwich.

Gabriel grinned. “Spill what?” He asked cheerily, still dancing to the imaginary tune in his head.

“A few hours ago you were an angry cloud of gloom, and now you’re all…” Raphael said, trailing off gesturing at Gabriel’s happy dancing.

Gabriel shrugged. “The situation wasn’t as bad as I thought.” He said simply, still dancing as he put away his ingredients.

“Are you going to elaborate?” Michael asked impatiently.

“Nope.” Gabriel said happily, as he turned walking out of the kitchen with his plate in hand, still happily wiggling away. His brothers trailed after him.

“Oh, and I’m going to the club tomorrow night,” he said conversationally, before closing his bedroom door on his brothers’ incredulous faces.

“Awww come on!” he could hear Luci whine through the door. “You can’t just leave us with that.”

“Can, and will!” He called cheerfully back through the door, putting his sandwich on his desk and he pulled out his guitar because the tune he was dancing to in his head was a good one.

  
On the other side of the door his brothers gawped at each other when they heard guitar notes filtering through the door. They backed away slowly, all silently agreeing that if whatever, or whoever rather, Gabriel had been texting to had inspired him to start composing again, then they were going to leave well enough alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is proof that comments and kudos are life ;) 
> 
> Thanks you guys for kicking my butt and asking for me to continue.  
> Honestly I was a little stuck, and the first two chapters had been so intense for me that I wasn't sure how to continue, but knowing that people wanted more really had me sitting down and forcing myself to write through my writers block.  
> So this one's dedicated to all my lovely commenters who asked for more <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Gabriel get ready for their second meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had planned on actually including the second meeting to this, but I've done 4 rewrites of that part and haven't been remotely happy with any of them. So...here's a little something to tide y'all over until I do get it right.  
> Plus! This means a more detailed better quality second meeting :P (hopefully)  
> Oh and the first little bit is in Cas' POV - don't ask me why...that's what the muses wanted. :P
> 
> Enjoy!  
> X

Castiel sat outside Gabriel’s door later that night, just listening to his brother play. Gabriel had been on a roll ever since that afternoon. He smiled. He’d missed his brother’s playing. Growing up, Castiel would sit next to the wall that stood between their two rooms and just listen to his brother play random riffs and chords, or better yet, when Gabriel did covers of his favourite songs. If Castiel was honest with himself, Gabriel was the reason he got so into music in the first place. Next to Samandriel, Gabriel was his closest brother; they were the youngest of the Novak brothers and so they often spent a lot of time together, especially given Gabriel’s usually temperament of being mischievous and playful. 

His elder brothers passed by him a couple times before Michael came and joined him. 

“You know, I don’t think the fans would believe us if we told them that Gabe’s the reason we all got into music in the first place.” Michael commented quietly as they listened. 

Castiel smiled. “No, probably not. Lucien has been pretty good at allowing them to continue assuming that he’s the reason the band’s together.”

Lucien plopped himself on the other side of Castiel, “That’s because I am, duh.” He said smugly, keeping his voice low like the others. “Gabriel might have gotten us all interested in playing, but I’m the one who got us all together.” 

Castiel rolled his eyes but didn’t reply, instead focusing on Gabriel’s playing. The three sat in silence for a moment, just listening. Gabriel’s voice, was in a word, angelic. The main reason Lucien was their lead singer was that Gabriel didn’t really want all that limelight on him. Preferring to stay back and play. Their fans had tried to petition to have Gabriel sing more songs, but he gracefully refused, being uncharacteristically humble by saying that Lucien was the better singer.

“Whoever it is that has Gabriel composing again must be a real life angel.” Michael said softly. Castiel nodded, eyes closed and enjoying Gabriel’s singing. It was obviously a love song. A little outside of their usual stuff, but the fans would eat it up for sure, especially if they could convince Gabriel to be the one to sing it. 

 

The brothers had gotten so lost in listening to him play that they hadn’t fully realised that he had stopped until they heard his doorknob turning, and the three of them scrambled to get up and out of the way so as to not make him self-conscious. Lucifer however was just a tad too slow and was still in front of the door when Gabriel opened it. Gabriel, not really paying attention, bumped right into him as he walked out of his room. 

“Whoa, sorry. Lucifer? What are you doing outside of my room?” Gabriel said dazedly, he often tended to get in daze when he got deep into composing. It was like it was a spiritual process for him, and it took him a bit to come back reality when he stopped. 

“Wh-what? Nothing! I was just passing by.” Lucifer stammered. Gabriel, still in a daze, nodded. “Oh. Okay. Well. Excuse me, bathroom break.” He said as he stepped around his brother and made his way down the hall. 

The three brothers looked at each other and let out a breath that they hadn’t been aware that they’d all been holding. Raphael chuckled from where he was leaning on his doorway. 

“You guys are lucky he gets that way when he composes. Otherwise there’s no way he wouldn’t have noticed that you’ve been creeping on him,” he said with a smirk. Raphael’s room was next to Gabriel’s so he had the luxury of being able to listen from his own bedroom without seeming like a creeper. The other three glared at him and started doing other things so that when Gabriel came back, he wouldn’t suspect that they’d been sitting outside his door listening. When Gabriel returned, more alert now, Michael and Castiel were both reading on the couch in the living room, and Lucifer had turned on the TV to watch a rerun of Shadowhunters, and Raphael had returned to his room. He hopped over the back of the couch to sit between Michael and Castiel to watch the show with Lucifer. 

For a moment there was just the sounds of the tv, but the three brothers had all been subtly, or so they thought, glancing at Gabriel, rather than focusing on their books or the tv. Gabriel sighed.

“You guys wanna know that badly?” he asked resignedly. His brothers looked at each other before turning back to him and nodded. He sighed again. “Raph, I know you’re listening, why don’t you come on out too.” Raphael grinned as he poked his head out of his room and came over and sat in the other lazy boy that Lucifer wasn’t occupying. 

“So what where do you want me to start?” Gabriel asked, looking the tv rather than his brothers. 

“How about the beginning? I mean, you came in last night more pissed off than we’ve seen you in a long time, and now you’re happier than we’ve seen you since when you first started dating Kali.” Raphael replied. “We kind of got a bit of whiplash for a moment there.” 

Gabriel nodded, acknowledging his rapid change in moods in the last twentyfour hours. He hesitated for a moment before starting. “Well. Last night I met someone, he’s a friend of a friend and we... _ really _ hit it off, but things got a little intense and he sort of got triggered and I thought I’d scared him off, which is why I was so pissed last night. I was mad at myself.” He said.

“Intense how?” Michael asked a little worriedly. Gabriel smirked. Michael didn’t approve of the whole BDSM thing but he made himself aware of what it was when Gabriel first started because he wanted to make sure of Gabriel’s safety, and so he’d know the basics if any sort of fallout would affect the band. 

“Don’t worry big bro, nothing like that. It was just…emotionally intense.” Gabriel replied. “I don’t know how to explain it. Other than it was the most intense first meeting that I’ve ever experienced. We didn’t even make it down to Pit. He ended up having some sort of panic attack before we even made it across the dancefloor.” Gabriel recalled with a frown. 

His brothers exchanged a look before Castiel asked softly, “And this afternoon? What changed?”

Gabriel smiled. “He got my number from our mutual friend and agreed to give it another try, but in a less intense environment. We’re going to meet tomorrow night at the club, with no intention of going to the Pit, to just chat and share a meal and some drinks.”

Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “How will going to the same club wear he was triggered be less intense?”

“Well you know how I keep my identity a secret when I go?” Gabriel asked, his brother’s nodded. “Well, that’s not uncommon and he has an alias just as I do, and wants to keep it that way for now. So that means I still need to wear my mask, and the best venue for that is the club. I can’t very well go into a cafe wearing my mask.” He explained before pausing. “Well...I  _ could _ …” he said with a smirk. 

“But it’s still easier at the club.” Castiel confirmed, and Gabriel nodded. 

Gabriel’s brothers exchanged a look, “Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean if it was as intense as you say…” Michael asked.

Gabriel paused and thought about it. Thought about the look on Viridis’ face when he touched his wrist, about how they both seemed to lose themselves in each other’s eyes, about the intense desire to know him more, despite knowing nothing else other than the fact that he was the most beautiful being he’d ever encountered. “To be honest, I don’t know...but, I want to try. No one’s ever made me feel that way before. I want to know what it is about him that causes those feelings. I’m too curious to just let this pass.” 

Michaels worried frown deepened, and he opened his mouth to say something, but Castiel beat him to the punch. “Well, it’s not like we can tell you what to do.” He said with a smirk. “But...be careful, okay? We care about you too, you know.”

Gabriel smiled, acknowledging his brothers’ care for him. “Yeah, and I’ll keep you all updated on if there’s a possibility for any fallout that might affect the band.” He said seriously. He was well aware that most didn’t understand the BDSM community and that no matter how careful one was, there was always room for error and always the possibility of a major fallout, and the last thing he wanted as for his brothers to be affect by his own lifestyle choices. 

Lucifer suddenly clapped his hands, startling the rest of the band, and he grinned at his brothers. “Well. Now we know what caused Gabbie’s-” Gabriel glared at Lucifer “-recent mood swings. I say it’s time we play some good ole fashioned Smash Bros. Melee!.” He said with flourish pulling out the game console and four controllers. 

The other four groaned. 

“Luuuciii, we’re too old for that game. Hell, we were too old for that game when it came out!” Gabriel whined.

“Plus! It’s only a four-player! There’s five of us.” Castiel chipped in. 

Lucifer gave Castiel a look, before addressing Gabriel first. “Nonsense! You’re never too old for video games! And it’s been awhile since we played since we forgot to bring it with us for the tour.” He turned to Castiel, “And Cassie -” Castiel twitched “You know we have a method to fix that, it’s called  _ taking turns _ .” He said with mock patience, like he was explaining to a two year old. Castiel rolled his eyes.“And!” Lucifer said excitedly, continuing to try to sell his point as his four brothers looked on at him, unimpressed. “We all still jetlagged any way. Might as well capitalize on it.” 

_ Luci really has a knack for explaining things like they were the most obvious thing in the world _ , Gabriel thought in admiration. He looked at Mike, Raph, and Cas, and he could see them starting to cave already. He stretched exaggeratedly, “Well, I think I’m gonna take a nap, try and help with this jetlag. Anyhoo, I think I’ve got an idea for a song that might work out.” He said thoughtfully, standing up. 

The other four exchanged a look, “Yeah, alright. We’re gonna stay out and play a few rounds, we’ll try to keep it down though.” Raphael said. 

“Hey!” Castiel protested, “I never said I was going to play!” 

“Hush Cassie”, Michael said quietly. Castiel crossed his arms and pouted. Gabriel laughed. 

“Nah, you can make as much noise as you need. I still have those earphones that we got when we were in Japan. Should knock out most of your ruckus.” He said dismissively as he walked into his room.

Gabriel yawned and went to his bed, plugging in his phone along the way. He checked the screen for messages. There was one, from Charlie, and he chuckled when he read it.

> **So, we’re both agreeing that you owe me big right ;)**
> 
> Haha ya, hopefully I dont screw this up big time tho.
> 
> **I have faith in you.**
> 
> U shudnt, Im a fallen angel afterall.
> 
> **Uhoh. Netspeak. Sounds like it’s someones bed time.**
> 
> Hush. ill sp33k how i want 2 sp33k.
> 
> **...now you’re just being deliberately obnoxious.**
> 
> Hu? Me? Nvr.
> 
> **…I’m gonna leave you to go sleep now.**
> 
> Ly ur majesty.
> 
> **Yeah yeah, good night Gabe.**
> 
> Nite nite charlie.

 

 

Sunday morning met Dean with an unusual mixture of excitement and anxiety. He had forced himself to only do a couple hours work before taking some melatonin and getting himself in bed early, trying to right his messed up sleep schedule before Monday. 

Charlie had spent another night at Dean’s, mostly because she was too lazy to go home again, but also because she knew that he’d be freaking out today and she wanted to make sure that he didn’t chicken out and leave Shakti hanging. 

After Dean’s morning run and workout, the two of then settled in for a lazy Sunday of video gaming, mostly Smash Bro. Melee, which Charlie mostly whupped Dean’s ass in. Charlie insisted that Dean didn’t do anything work related. 

After a couple hours of gaming though, Dean got restless and anxious, hating that he was wasting away his day. He ended up insisting on switching gears to doing some house cleaning, if he wasn’t allowed to work. Charlie, realizing that this was a coping mechanism of his leftover from Alistair, acquiesced and stuck around to help out. She would have left, but she honestly didn’t trust that Dean wouldn’t still chicken out; and she enjoyed spending time with her best friend any ways, even if it was just doing housework. 

Not to mention how much fun she had teasing and freaking him out by insisting he clean and organize his sex toy collection. She honestly was just teasing him when she first mentioned it, but then he started blushing furiously and sputtering. So she pushed him into his room and told him he wasn’t allowed back out until he had cleaned and sanitized each of his toys. “And don’t get distracted,” She said with a wink, before shutting the door, chuckling as he choked.

 

As nine o’clock drew closer and closer, both Gabriel and Dean found themselves getting more and more nervous.

“Gabriel! Honestly! Each set of black shirts and black jeans look  _ exactly the same _ . Why are you changing so often?” Castiel said exasperatedly after Gabriel’s fifth wardrobe change. 

Gabriel glared and his little brother. “They  _ do not _ all look the same. See, this is why you’re not in charge of your own wardrobe when we’re on tour.” Gabriel responded just as exasperatedly, though with a touch of anxiety in his voice. He was terrified of messing this up. He wanted to make sure that Viridis asked for a second date ( _ Was this a date? We never really said...but it was heavily implied... _ Gabriel thought nervously.), and he would damned ( _ hehehe Damned, _ he thought a little hysterically) if his choice of outfit hampered that.

“Just wear the black v-neck and the black skinny jeans,” Raphael cut in, appearing in Gabriel’s doorway. “The v-neck shows of your muscle definition, and everyone knows your skinny jeans are too die for. Hell the fans go crazy every time you go out in them.” Raphael said reasonably, pulling out the outfit. “And here,” he continued, handing Gabriel what looked like a golden scarf. Gabriel shook his head.

“Oohhh no, I’m not going full hipster on this.” He protested. Raphael rolled his eyes, and spread out the scarf, which Gabriel now realized had been folded and knotted in a manner that turned it into a very long, flowy, vest. “What in the world?” He asked wonderingly as he took the garment in hand.

“It’s a trick I learned from one of our wardrobe coordinators on the tour. Apparently it was her specialty; saves space, and increases your wardrobe options.”  Raphael said with as shrug. “I think it will tie the outfit together nicely, since you can’t show off your wings this time around.”

Gabriel eyed the scarf skeptically, but decided to trust his brother, who out of the six of them, had the best fashion sense. He changed into the outfit, slipping on the impromptu vest last, and looked at his reflection in the mirror. Huh. He had to hand it to Raphael, he really had a knack for this kind of thing. He looked good, and the vest really did make up for not being able to show off his wings. He put on the mask and nodded happily, and turned and gave his older brother a hug, which Raphael returned stiffly. “Thank you thank you thank you!” He exclaimed with glee. 

Raphael extricated himself from Gabriel’s hold and peered at his face thoughtfully for a moment. “Hmmm, how do you feel about eyeliner?” He asked.

Gabriel shrugged, and he could hear Lucifer laughing at his doorway. “Raphael you’re acting like this is your little sister’s first date.” He teased. Raphael and Gabriel rolled their eyes, and ignored him. “Should we take a picture before he leaves?” Lucifer continued undeterred at their inattention, “Like we did at his prom? Ooh ooh! We should get this guy a corsage! Awww wouldn’t that just be  _ adorable _ our little brother’s second chance at getting prom right!” He said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Gabriel flipped him off without looking at him as Raphael put gold eyeliner around his eyes, they really did make his eyes pop out more. Gabriel inspected his reflection once more, and nodded. “Raph, if we ever get tired of this band business, Chuck-forbid, you could probably make a decent living out of this.”

By this point, even Michael had wandered over to watch Gabriel get ready, and at his comment, all four of Gabriel’s brothers started laughing.

“ _ Chuck-forbid _ ?” Castiel managed to ask between giggles. 

Gabriel grinned, shrugging. “What can I say? Luci’s drunken explanation stuck with me.” 

Said Lucifer was currently rolling on the ground laughing. “Heheh I should mention it at the next press thingy. Make it a thing with our fans too. We’ll have the First United Churches of Chuck popping up all over the place.” He gasped between gales of laughter. 

Michael groan, running a hand down his face, but it didn’t do anything to hide the grin here. “Ugh that’s just what we need, a legitimate cult to add to our legacy.”

Raphael grinned, “Yeah, but could you imagine Mom and Dad’s reaction when they found out? Mom would  _ flip _ .”

Lucifer’s eyes sparkled with mischief, “ _ Oh,  _ I’m  _ soooo _ doing it now.” 

Michael groaned again. “We’re going to send our publicist to an early grave.” 

Gabriel chuckled and waved his hand dismissively, “It’s okay, we can guarantee her a choice spot in Chuck’s heaven.”

The brothers began laughing again, and continued teasing and joking about the Church of Chuck until Gabriel’s alarm went off, telling him that it was time to start heading down to the club. Gabriel swallowed, suddenly nervous again. 

His brothers smiled encouragingly at him. “You will do  _ fine _ .” Castiel said, getting up and gripping his older brother’s shoulders. “And even if you don’t we will all still be here to support you. Okay?” 

Gabriel took a deep breath, and nodded. He exhaled slowly, “Alright, here goes nothing.” He said, making sure he had his wallet, his keys, and his phone, as he made his way to the door. He looked back at his brothers just before he closed the door behind him. “Well, see you guys later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Castiel quirked an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure there isn’t anything you wouldn’t do.”

Gabriel waggled his eyebrows and closed the door behind him.

 

Meanwhile, Charlie had been right not to leave Dean to his own devices. She pulled him back from chickening out at least ten times between six o’clock and eight o’clock. 

“But Charlie!” He whined once more when his own alarm went off to let him know he needed to head down to the club. 

“No buts!” Charlie said firmly as she ushered him to the door. 

“Okay okay, but maybe I should change this shirt. I’m going to look like such a dork. Angelorum Lapsus is such a fringe band, he’s probably not even going to know who they  _ are _ .” He wheedle, trying to turn around back to the sanctuary of his bedroom.

“Then you can have the joy of introducing them to him. You’re always trying to get people at work into them, why is now any different?” She asked as she blocked his path and pushed him closer to the door, grabbing his wallet and keys on the way. 

“Because it’s  _ Shakti _ .” He replied earnestly, like it answered everything.

Charlie blinked and raised an amused eyebrow. “You’re  _ adorable _ .” 

Dean flushed, realizing that maybe he was being a  _ little _ ridiculous. “Shuddup.” He mumbled, finally relenting and turning towards the door. He paused before shutting it behind him, (Charlie was going to stay, in case he needed her to pick him up or if it went as bad as last time) “It’s going to be okay right?” He asked hesitantly.

Charlies gaze softened, “Yeah, Dean. It’ll be fine this time, and even if it isn’t, at least you tried, and I’ll be here with a tub of Ben’n’Jerry’s for you and we can cuddle, ‘kay?” She said reassuringly. She finally realized just how nervous he was when he didn’t react to the cuddle comment and just nodded, swallowed audibly and closed the door behind him.

“Goddess I hope it all goes well.” She said in a quiet prayer when she was sure that Dean was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all your support <3 it means the world to me.  
> I'm working diligently to get the next chapter up and done soon. Send prayers up to the muses that they'll help me to get it out quickly :) 
> 
> Love y'all!  
> X
> 
> P.S. I have a new tumblr! Feel free to message me or send me prompts there!   
> xanydee3.tumblr.com


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean and Gabriel's second meeting. And of course, things don't go as well as they'd hoped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Fanfare trumpets* I did it!  
> And you have the wonderful Miss Esoulix to thank. She helped me kick my muse in the butt and get writing.  
> I'm still not 100% happy with it, but it's better than all my other versions so far. 
> 
> So! Enjoy! :3  
> -X

Gabriel ended up showing up first, which he was fine with. He went through the usual routine of getting his picture taken, putting his coat in coat check, and the usual perusal of who was there that night before settling himself in with a top shelf gin and tonic at the table where Viridis and Charlie had been sitting on Friday night. The routine helped settle his nerves as he watched the crowd, keeping an eye out for Viridis. He hummed along to the song that was playing as he peoplewatched. It’d been awhile since he’d done this. He forgot how relaxing it could be.    
“Shakti?” Gabriel started slightly as he turned towards the voice, only to lose himself immediately in the bright green eyes that had lured him in so strongly the other night.

Viridis squirmed a little under Gabriel’s own intense golden gaze, before clearing his throat, bringing Gabriel out of his reverie. He smiled at the man. 

“Hey.” He said gently, “I’m glad you made it.” 

Viridis’ responding smile could have lit up a stadium it was so bright. Gabriel found himself wanting to make sure that Viridis always had something to smile about. 

“You’re early,” Viridis said as he took the seat across from him. “Have you been waiting long?” Gabriel quirked an eyebrow, and looked at his watch, realizing he must have showed up half an hour early. He briefly wondered how many speeding tickets he’d have had to incur to manage that feat. 

“Not really,” he responded. “You realize that means you’re early too,” he said with a smirk. 

Viridis blushed beautifully and Gabriel wanted nothing more than to kiss every flushed inch.   
“Uhhm, I guess I was just a little nervous.” Viridis mumbled, and it was lucky that there was a lull in the music or Gabriel might’ve missed it. 

He chuckled. “Well, I guess that makes both of us. Apparently I was so wrung out that my brothers felt the need to rally around me while I was getting ready.” He said, and if Viridis had known him better, he would have realized that Gabriel was a little embarrassed about it. As it was, Gabriel suspected he wouldn’t. 

Viridis smiled, “Yeah, uhh, Her Majesty, did the same for me.” Gabriel watched as Viridis’ eyes darkened as he took all of him in. 

“I, uh, I like the vest. They look like wings,” he said, smiling shyly.

Gabriel laughed, “Yeah, you can thank my brother for that. He knows how much I enjoy showing off my wings.” Gabriel took Viridis blatant checking out as an invitation to do the same, he hummed in approval at how the t-shirt/jean combo showed off Viridis’ alluring physique in a more subtle manner than how Viridis’ previous outfit had. He froze and raised an eyebrow at the logo on the shirt.

“Angelorum Lapsus?” he asked evenly.

 

Dean froze. He looked down at the shirt, groaning internally. He knew picking this shirt would make him look like a major dork. 

“Uhh, umm, yeah. They’re one of my favourite bands, after Zeppelin of course. I wanted to go to their tour but was stuck working when they were in town. They’re really cool, their stuff just kind of speaks to me y’know? Like, ‘Brothers and Sisters’ was one of my favourite songs. I love how they view their fan base as family. How they take time to talk to their fans. I mean, they’re not the most popular of bands but they’ve got a decent sized following. I mean, it’s enough that they can go on a worldwide tour. And oh my good god, please stop me from rambling. I know you must think I’m a gigantic dork.” Dean said almost all in one breath. He looked away from Shakti to quickly wave down a waitress to order a drink. He startled when Shakti started laughing instead. 

 

_ Oh, I am soo having a word with Charlie later. _ Gabriel thought as he laughed,  _  She  could have at least mentioned that he was a fan. _ Viridis was so adorable as he rambled on about Angelorum, and his resulting blush was to die for. As Gabriel laughed, Viridis’ blush deepened, accentuating each and every freckle on his face. Gabriel decided to give him a break. 

“Hehe, no no I don’t think you’re a dork. I’m just a little surprised. I’m a big fan too.”  _ Kind of have to be if I’m in it, _ Gabriel thought wryly. “And like you said, they don’t have the largest following, so I wasn’t expecting to see you wearing one of their shirts.” He said, watching Viridis expression turn from embarassed to excited as it dawned on him that he was talking to a fellow Lil Demon.  _ He’d probably freak if he found out who I really am, _ Gabriel thought, suddenly thinking that maybe this whole thing wasn’t a good idea afterall. Everyone knew that it was a well-established rule to never date your fans.  _ Ah, well, I guess it’s for the best that he doesn’t want to share real identities anyway. _

 

Dean smiled widely when he found out that Shakti was a fellow fan. He cringed inwardly as he thought about what the majority of the Angelorum’s fanbase like to call themselves.  _ Lil Demons, _ he scoffed internally,  _ seriously, who thought of that? _ But he knew better than to say anything against the name, he knew that most of the fans were often more than not, just a little bit crazy, and he didn’t want to chance offending Shakti if he was one of those fans.

“So, another Lil Demon?” he asked, “what’s your favourite song?” 

 

Gabriel laughed. “Uhm, no offense but no, I don’t refer to myself as a Lil Demon,” he replied. “And I don’t really have a favourite, I like them all pretty equally.”  Which wasn’t an outright lie. He liked all of their currently released songs, but he had a feeling that the one he was working on right now was quickly going to turn into his favourite. 

Viridis slightly sagged in relief. “Oh thank god. I was almost worried there for a moment. I don’t actually like that name for the fans, but it’s established, so.” he shrugged in a ‘what-can-you-do’ manner. 

Gabriel smiled, find himself to feel a relieved as well. At least if he’s a fan, he’s most likely not going to be one of those uber-crazy ones. “Yeah, not sure how that one caught on so fast.”

 

Dean’s beer finally arrived. But he found himself not needing it quite so much now. He sipped at it, and he picked up one of the menus that the waitress had left with them before attending to another patron. It’d been awhile since he ordered food here, he had no idea what was good. 

He looked back up at Shakti to ask what he recommended when he found himself locked into the other man’s gaze. “Uhhm.”

 

_ Fuck, I could just sit here looking at him all day. _ Gabriel thought as they got lost in each other once more. They stayed like that until the waitress came around and asked if they wanted to order any food. Gabriel shook his head to clear it before smiling at the girl, who he finally noticed was dressed  _ very _ provocatively. If he’d been here on his own, say last week, he probably would have tried to convince her to come down to the Pit with him later. As it was, he found himself not all interested.  _ Huh. Well, that’s a new one. _

He looked over at Viridis, “You know what you want?” 

Viridis flushed, “Uhmm, no actually, I was about to ask you what was good. It’s been awhile since I ordered food here, otherwise I was probably just going to order a good ol’ fashioned burger and fries.”

Gabriel smiled, “Mmm while their burger and fries are good, they’ve got other good stuff too. Do you mind if I..?” he asked, gesturing to the menu. Viridis waved a hand, “No, no, go ahead.” he replied. 

Gabriel picked it up and quickly scanned it to make sure he was ordering the right thing. And then turned to the waitress who was waiting patiently. “Number 1 and Number 6, please.” He said as he handed her the menus. 

“Sure thing sugar,” She said with a flirtatious smile before whirling around to input their order into the computer.

 

Dean bristled a little as the waitress flirted with Shakti. But he took reassurance in the fact that he seemed to not be interested in her at all. Especially when he immediately returned his attention to Dean before the waitressed even finished turning around. 

“So, uhm, how did you hear about Angelorum?” He asked, trying to avoid another intense bout of eyefucking (because really, what else could they call it).

Shakti smirked like he was holding back from laughing. “My brothers got me into it.” Before Dean could ask what was so funny, Shakti turned the question back on him. “What about you? You one of those hipster fans?” 

Dean laughed, “No. Well, yes, but no. I’ve known about them since their second album or so. So I’ve been a fan for longer than most people that I know, but I don’t really think of myself as one of those hipster fans.” 

Shakti smiled, “Alright, not a hipster fan. But you still didn’t answer the first question, how’d you get into them?” 

 

“Heh, actually it was my brother introduced me. He got me their album as a birthday gift,”  Viridis replied with a chuckle. “His intention was that he could listen to something other than Zeppelin. Now he begs me to play Zeppelin once in awhile.” 

Gabriel raised an eyebrow with a smile. “He’s not a fan I take it?”

“Nah, it’s not that, he actually likes them a lot too. But I’m just the kind of person who sticks to what they like, you know?” Viridis said with a shrug.

Gabriel smirked. “So, not the adventurous type?”

 

Dean flushed a little at Shakti’s question. “I’m plenty adventurous.” he said a little defensively, “Wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.” He pointed out. 

Shakti gave a little nod in acknowledgement. “I suppose that’s true,” he said.

Shakti look thoughtful, and then hesitant. “Did you want to talk about it?” he asked gently. Dean knew he was talking about what set him off on Friday. He swallowed, trying to decide if he should. He was already afraid enough that Shakti was going to cut and run. 

Fortunately, he was saved the effort by their food arriving, and he looked up to thank the waitress when he saw it.

 

A flash of red. 

 

Dark, dirty, brownish-red, the colour of dried blood.

 

A sharp smile filled with mocking approval

 

_ “There, that’s my little slut. Let’s see what else you can handle, shall we?” _

 

A dark room

 

Pain

 

Dean crying out his safeword until his throat felt raw.

 

Then, nothing.

 

 

“Viridis! Hey!” Gabriel was by the man’s side, trying to get him to come back. When their food arrived Viridis suddenly frozen and started hyperventilating. The waitress was standing just behind him looking very worried.

“Sir, is he alright? Do you need us to call an ambulance?” She asked hesitantly. 

Gabriel spared her a brief glance, “No, I think we’ll be fine thank you.” He replied curtly. “I’m just going to call his ride. Thank you for your concern.”

Gabriel pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Charlie’s number. He didn’t know for sure that she was his ride for the night, but she was the only one he knew that knew Viridis.

“Gabe? What’s wrong? What happened?” Charlie’s worried voice said over the line after barely half a ring.

“He’s been triggered again - shit!” Gabriel looked over at Viridis to find that the man had passed out and was now slumped over the table, having barely missed faceplanting into his food.

“Gabe!?” Charlie exclaimed.

“Shit shit shit - he passed out. When our food arrived, he just,  _ froze _ , and then started hyperventilating. He wouldn’t respond to me and now he’s passed out.” Gabriel said quickly over the phone. He could hear rustling from Charlie’s end, and a slamming of a door. “Okay okay, see if you can get him into a private room. Just tell them I’m on my way, and then we’ll work on getting him home.”

Gabriel ran a hand down his face. “Yeah, that should be easy enough, between your name and mine I don’t think they’ll give us much trouble to get a room. I’ll text you the number when we get one.”

Charlie chuckled nervously, and he could hear her start up a car. “Guess it’s a good thing we’re such regulars. Anyway, driving now. I’ll be there ASAP. And Gabriel?”

“Yeah?”

“This isn’t your fault, and it’s going to be okay.” She said gently in a tone that left no room for argument.

Gabriel smiled. Leave it Charlie to worry about him as well as her passed out friend. “Alright, Majesty. Just get here quick, okay? But drive safe!” He replied before they hung up. 

Gabriel ran a hand over Viridis’ forehead and then checked his breathing. Seemed normal. He looked up at the waitress who had still been hovering nearby, looking as though she wanted to call an ambulance anyway. 

“Hey, can you see if my room is available. Should be room 4 - Shakti.” He asked gently. “And if not, can you see if Her Majesty’s is free? She’s on her way right now.” The woman’s eyes widened at the mention of both names. 

“Of course sir, right away sir!” She said quickly and hurriedly turned to fulfill his requests before pausing and looking back. “You sure he’s okay?” She asked worriedly, nodding towards the still unconscious Viridis.

Gabriel smiled. “Yes, he should be fine. He just needs a quiet space and some water. Speaking of which, can you ensure that whichever room we get has a well-stocked aftercare package?” He said, reassuring the woman. She nodded and turned again with a ‘Yes sir’.

Gabriel refocused his attention on Viridis, moving the food out of the way, and gently running his hand through his hair. He waved down a separate waitress and asked to have their food packaged up for them. 

“Viridis. Hey, buddy. Wake up. It’s okay. Just come back now.” He said softly, trying to rouse the gorgeous man, while simultaneously marvelling at how soft the blond hair was. “Viridis. Come on. It’s okay. You’re safe buddy.”

“Mr.Shakti, sir?” Came a voice from behind him. Gabriel turned around to find their waitress standing there. “Your room is free, and we’re having someone go in, to ensure that the aftercare kit is properly stocked. Would you like assistance in transporting him there?” She asked.

Gabriel looked down at the large man. Gabriel tried to ensure he kept in good shape - it’s the price of always being in the public eye after all, and he liked to make sure that he could do a decent amount of manhandling if a scene called for it - but there was no way he was going to be able to get Viridis down to his private room by himself, especially with all the people in the way. He sighed. “Yes, that would be greatly appreciated. The waitress nodded and waved down two of the burly security guards. 

“Evening, Shakti.” One of them grunted at him as the two of them easily picked up Viridis. 

Gabriel smiled and followed them towards one of the secret pathways down to the Pit - most of the regulars knew about these pathways, but they were mostly emergency exits, so they all tended to use the main way down - “Evening, Joe. How’s the fam?” He asked. 

“Well, thanks for askin’.” Joe grunted as they made their way down to room 4.

Gabriel texted Charlie the room number as he followed the guards. 

 

> **Kk. Almost there, just parked the car.**
> 
> **Can you let them know to let me in?? There’s a huuuge lineup out here.**
> 
> I’ve already told them youre coming, but I’ll remind them.

 

Once they had settled Viridis into the room, Gabriel turned to the security guards. “Hey Joe, can you make sure Her Majesty gets in? She’s his ride once we can get him conscious again.” He asked, tilting his head in Viridis’ direction. 

Joe nodded. “Yeah, we’ll make sure she gets in. Might take a bit though. It’s unusually busy tonight.”

Gabriel nodded, “Thanks, Joe”

“No problem.” Joe grunted as he made his way back to the exit with the other guard.

 

> Bouncers made aware - said it may take a while but theyll get you in
> 
> **:-/ okay. Best we can ask for I guess**
> 
> **How is he?**
> 
> Stable, i think. But still passed out. 
> 
> **Okay, keep me updated.**
> 
> Will do. See you in a bit.

 

Gabriel turned to Viridis, who was still passed out, but at least he was lying comfortably on the bed now, rather than face first on a dirty club table.  _ Speaking of. _ Gabriel thought, and he went to the adjoining bathroom to get a washcloth to wipe down Viridis’ face. Gabriel, with his earnings from the band was able to splurge and have this room set aside for him - it was one of the few that had an adjoining bathroom and kitchenette - it was essentially a tiny bachelor suite. The club could rent it out if he wasn’t using it, but Gabriel got priority if he was in town and wanted to use it. 

Gabriel came back and gently ran the warm cloth across Viridis’ forehead. “Hey buddy. Come on back now. You’re safe. No one’s gonna hurt you. Come on Viridis” He cajoled softly. 

Viridis groaned quietly, and his face was contorted in fear and pain. Gabriel’s heart broke, whatever happened to this beautiful man really had its claws dug in deep. “Sh sh sh, hey. It’s okay Viridis. It’s alright, you’re safe, you’re not there anymore.” He hushed, running his hand through Viridis hair as he continued wiping down Viridis’ face with the cloth. 

Gabriel’s phone pinged.

 

> **I’m in! Room 4 right?**
> 
> Yeah. And hes still passed out. Looks like hes having a nightmare
> 
> **Be there soon**

 

Viridis groaned again, a little louder this time. “Nooo, Alastair. Please, stop! Impala! Impala!” 

Gabriel’s blood ran cold. Alastair. That bastard. 

Because the club was one of the few in town, most doms knew other doms, especially the big name ones. And Alastair was one of them, and not in a good way. He was well known for being far too harsh on his subs, for blatantly ignoring safewords, and for punishing his subs for safewording out of a scene.

“Now just how did an angel like you get messed up with a devil like him?” He whispered as he continued to try and console him. 

 

“Hey Shakti! Open up I’m here!” Charlie’s voice came from the other side of the door.

Gabriel ran his hand through Viridis’ hair one more time before he got up and let Charlie in. 

The little redhead zoomed passed Gabriel to Viridis’ side. “Has he been at all responsive?” She asked worriedly, picking up the cloth and taking over the mothering duties. 

Gabriel crossed his arms and moved to the other side of the bed. “Not really. But he’s definitely having nightmares. You want to tell me how he got involved with that bastard Alastair?” He asked, keeping his voice even.

Charlie looked up warily at Gabriel, and sighed. “It’s not really my place to tell, Gabe.” She said, not meeting his eyes. “But, he met him before we met each other. Otherwise you  _ know _ I would’ve told him to stay way from that bastard.” Charlie said heatedly. “But by the time we were close enough to be friends, they were already well established, and you know how Alastair’s subs get when he has his claws in them.” She continued sadly. 

Gabriel looked down at Viridis, who’s nightmare had apparently gotten worse since he was now started to thrash around, still groaning out in pain. He sighed. He definitely did know. That’s actually how he and Charlie became friends, by helping her rehabilitate Alastair’s former subs, and working to ensure that the bastard was banned from the club, which had been tricky - given the clubs penchant for anonymity.

“Why didn't you tell me that he was one of his?” he asked.

“Because it wasn’t my place to tell. And it’s more complicated than the others. He was with him for longer.” She replied softly. She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Hey, can you leave the room for a moment? I’m going to try and wake him, and I need to use his real name. He won’t respond to Viridis in this state.”

As much as Gabriel wanted to be there when the man woke up, he knew that Charlie knew best in this situation. He nodded, and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. 

  
  


So. Much. Pain.

 

_ “No one’s coming for you now boy. Not after what you’ve done” _

 

_ “Worthless slut. Dirty little whore. But that’s okay boy. You have me” _

 

_ “Mmmm, you’re so pretty when you cry.” _

 

_ “Ohh Dean. That’s it. Scream some more.” _

 

“Dean!”

 

_ “Hmm should we invite a few of our friends over? I’m sure they’d love to watch your work once more.” _

 

“Dean! Come on, sweetheart. It’s okay. I’m here. Come on back now!”

 

_ “Mmm your artwork is exquisite. You’re  _ **_such_ ** _ a good little whore.” _

 

“Dean! Sweetheart, it’s okay, you’re safe! You’re not with him anymore.”

Dean blinked blearily. “Charlie?” he croaked. 

He suddenly got a faceful of redhair as Charlie rushed forward to hug him. “Dean! You’re back with us!”

“W-wh-what ha-happened? W-wh-where am I?” He stuttered, trying to figure out what was going on. He could have sworn he was back at Alastair’s mansion. 

“What do you remember, sweetheart?” Charlie asked gently, knowing what the answer was most likely going to be. 

“I-i-i was at  _ his _ place. H-h-he wanted to bring other subs again.” Dean stuttered in reply. 

Charlie nodded understandingly, running an soothing hand through his hair. “Okay, what else do you remember, sweetheart?”

Dean scrunched up his face, trying to remember. A horrified expression grew on his face as he finally did. He hid in Charlie’s hair as he said, “I was on a date with Shakti. Oh god, he must think I’m pathetic.” 

“I most certainly do not.”

Dean froze, and looked up passed Charlie’s shoulder, to see Shakti leaning against the bathroom door frame with his arms crossed. Charlie turned her head to glare at him. “I told you to wait outside,” she said accusingly. 

“I was worried,” He replied with a shrug. “Don’t worry I didn’t hear his real name.” He added with a roll of his eyes, and Dean noted that Shakti was still wearing his mask.

Shakti cautiously made his way closer to the bed, as though he didn’t want to spook Dean. 

 

“Hey buddy, how you feeling?” Gabriel asked as he sat on the other side of the bed, making sure to leave a respectful distance between he and Viridis.

Viridis flushed. “Mostly embarrassed,” he replied quietly. “I hate that you had to see me like that.”

Gabriel smiled reassuringly. “It’s okay, we all have things that get to us. Just, some more than others,” he said with a shrug. He’d learned, after dealing with many of Alastair’s former subs, that the best way to deal with panic attacks like these was to act as though it was a normal every day occurrence. The last thing they needed was for someone to make them feel like a freak for something they couldn’t control. 

Gabriel wanted desperately to question Viridis on how he knew Alastair, and what happened. But he knew that that would mostly like just set him off. 

Gabriel got up and went to the kitchenette where the club staff had so thoughtfully started the process of making hot chocolate; all Gabriel had to do was pour the hot water and stir. He came back to the bed and offered Viridis the drink. “Here, this might help you feel better. And don’t worry about our food, I had the staff package it up for us. They’ll bring it down when we want it.”

 

Dean accepted the hot chocolate gratefully. He was starving, and still feeling very shaky. The sugar from the chocolate would go a long way to helping with that. “Thank you. And I’m sorry for ruining our a date.” He said quietly. 

Shakti huffed and waved a hand. “Don’t worry. We can just do a do-over another time.” he said, giving Dean a reassuring smile. 

“Viridis,” Charlie said softly. “You should probably know. You were talking in your sleep.” 

Dean froze, and stared at Charlie, recognizing the implication of her words, and then stared at Shakti. Shakti’s face remained unreadable, helped by the fact that he was wearing an actual mask. Dean slumped a little, and lowered his gaze. 

“If you wanna hightail it outta here, I wouldn’t blame you for it,” he said quietly. “I know most people don’t want damaged goods.”

Dean looked up when the bed dipped as Shakti sat in next to him. The look in the other man’s eyes was so full of compassion and understanding, Dean got lost in them for a much different reason than he usually did.

Shakti carefully raised a hand to rest it on one of Dean’s. “To be honest, it makes me want to get to know you more. I know Alastair, and I know that it takes a very strong person to leave Alastair with any semblance of sanity,” he said gently. 

Dean looked away, blinking away the treacherous tears that were threatening to spill over. “I’m not that strong,” he said in a small voice. 

“Bullshit.”

Dean and Shakti both jumped. They’d forgotten that Charlie was still there. 

“You’re extremely strong and if I have to call up your brother, and-” Charlie glanced at Shakti “-and everyone who knows you to tell you, then I will. Capisce?” She said, waggling a finger at him.

Dean gave a watery chuckle. He waved a hand up in surrender; he knew she wasn’t bluffing on that one. “Got it your Majesty.” 

Charlie nodded in satisfaction. “Now, finish your hot chocolate and then we can get you to bed.”

Dean looked up at Shakti questioningly, “But, our date?”

Shakti smiled, “Can be continued at another time.”

Dean nodded sadly. “I’m really sor-” he started before a finger came to his lips. He blinked at looked at Viridis.

 

Gabriel gave Dean a gentle smile. “I said don’t worry about it. We can continue our date some other time. I’m just glad you’re okay. You freaked the crap out of me when you passed out at our table. I was worried you were going to drown yourself in our food!” He exaggerated, attempting to coax out a smile.

Viridis ducked his head, but he could see the corners of his lips quirk up a little.

“What  _ did _ you order me, by the way? I never got to find out.” Vidiris asked, tilting his head curiously in a manner that eerily reminded him of Cas. 

Gabriel grinned mischievously, “Well, you can just find that out once you get home. And you’re welcome by the way. I’m the master at introducing people to the best foods.”

Charlie groaned. “Right. The master. The only type of food you could possibly be the master of are the sweet kinds,” she said teasingly, elbowing him in the side. 

Gabriel just grinned roguishly, and shrugged. “What can I say, I must have been a baker in another life or something.”

 

Dean watched their interaction as he sipped his hot chocolate. He smiled, they acted like brother and sister, and as he watched Charlie tease Shakti he wondered how long they’d know each other, and why Charlie had never mentioned him before. 

“...,sweetheart?” 

Dean blinked. Charlie had just asked him a question. 

“Uhm, sorry. What?” He asked sheepishly. 

Charlie gave him a concerned look before she repeated her question, “Are you ready to go?”

Dean looked down at his hot chocolate, and down the last few dregs of it, before nodding.

Charlie smiled. “Okay, then we should probably go,” she looked down a little embarrassedly, “I’m not exactly sure how much money I put in the meter I was in such a rush to get here.”

Shakti and Dean glanced at each other before laughing. Charlie looked between them bemused. “What? What? What’s so funny?” She demanded.

“C-charlie! It’s Sunday! After 9!” Shakti explained breathlessly. 

Charlie flushed. “Oh. Right.” She huffed and crossed her arms with a pout. “Well, excuse me for being more concerned about my best friend than about what time parking is free.”

Dean chuckled and pulled Charlie into a hug. “And this is why we love you Charlie.” He said fondly. Charlie relaxed a little, and returned his hug, but she was still pouting a little when she pulled away. “Well there goes my coffee money for the week.”

Shakti laughed, “Oh, I think I could scrounge up a little change for your Cafe Girl fund.” 

Charlie flushed. “Stop calling her that,” She protested. “It’s Gilda, and I’d appreciate it… I think we’re finally getting somewhere.”

 

Gabriel grinned. “I thought you struck out with her again?”

Charlie’s flush deepened. “Well...yeah...but she finally took my number this time.”

“Really! That’s awesome! She’s been a tough one to crack. Has she texted or called you yet?” Viridis asked with a grin. 

Charlie squirmed embarrassedly. “Don’t you think I would’ve told you if she had?” she grumbled. “How’d we get to focusing on me anyway?” she asked indignantly. 

Gabriel laughed, and his heart soared when he saw that Viridis was laughing with him.  _ Yepp, definitely prefer his smile. _ He thought giddily. 

Viridis pulled Charlie into a hug, and Gabriel noticed a small twinge of jealously before reminding himself that Charlie was gay, and that her relationship with Viridis was probably on a more sibling-like level than anything. 

Gabriel took Viridis’ empty mug and got up to bring it to the sink to be washed later. But he hadn’t realized that he had spilled a little when bringing it over, and slipped on the little wet spot. He fumbled, and tried to make sure he didn’t drop the mug on the ground, while at the same time, both Charlie and Viridis reached out to try and steady him. With all the fumbling and hands reaching out, Gabriel’s masked got knocked askew and slipped from his face. 

Viridis gasped. “G-gabriel?” 

“Well. Shit.” Gabriel and Charlie said in unison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dundundun  
> What will Dean do now? What will _Gabe_ do?  
>  HOW WILL THEY COPE WITH THIS REVELATION!!! 
> 
> ..okay, maybe I've had just a bit too much coffee...my apologies.
> 
> But yes, this was the thing that had me stumped for so long. Dean kept figuring out who Shakti was, and I didn't want it to happen so soon - so... I gave him a panic attack to distract him.  
> But clutzy Gabe went and made my efforts moot :P 
> 
> So, we'll see how they deal with this development. But I suspect that the story will pick up from here. (I'm still trying to figure out when the smut will happen...but apparently my muse prefers angst to smut...so we'll see)
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos! They really do keep me going! <3
> 
> Loves,  
> X
> 
> P.S. Come say hi to me over on tumblr! :)   
> http://xanydee3.tumblr.com


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They deal with the fallout of Gabe's identity being revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE!  
> I was going to get this up much much earlier...but last week was my baby sister's birthday (She's an adult now! My mind is blown) And this week is my birthday! (OMG I'M GETTING SO OLLLD :P XD )  
> So I've been making plans for those instead of writing. I finally got around to finishing writing this chapter so here you go :)  
> Again - not beta'd so any and all mistakes are my own
> 
> Enjoy!  
> X

Dean blinked. And blinked again. He had to be dreaming, because there was  _ no way _ that freaking _Gabriel,_  the freaking lead guitarist from freaking  _ Angelorum Lapsus _ , his favourite band in the _world_ , was sitting here in front of him with Shakti’s mask dangling goofily from his face. There just was no way. His post-panic attack brain must be playing tricks on him.

“Well, there goes the idea of not sharing our first names,” Gabriel smiled ruefully, and he stuck a hand out in between them, “Hi! They call me Gabriel.”

Dean looked down and blinked at the hand, and slowly reach out and put his hand in Gabriel’s. Well, if his brain was playing tricks on him then it’s doing a freaking good job. That felt like a really real hand.

Gabriel smirked, quirking an eyebrow, and if Dean thought he looked hot on stage, it was nothing like having that sexy sarcastic face up close in front of his. “So...do I get to know yours?” He asked, and Dean flushed.

“Gabe!” Charlie admonished, elbowing him in the ribs. “Give him a mo’, he’s still coming down from a panic attack.”

Gabriel ducked his head, looking sheepish. “Sorry.” he mumbled. 

Dean blinked at Charlie. “I’ve been trying to get you to listen to their album for  _ ages _ and you never thought to tell me that you knew the  _ lead guitarist? _ ” he asked incredulously. 

Gabriel was back to smirking. “In fact, big boy, she knows the whole band. We’ve had her over for dinner a couple times, she’s practically  _ family _ . Speaking of,” he interrupts himself, waggling a finger at Charlie. “You, little missy, have some ‘splaining to do. You could have at least given me a teensy tiny headsup that he was a fan.”

Charlie sighs, “Would you have met him if I had?” She asks, giving him a knowing look. 

Gabriel looks indignantly at her, “Of course I would have! Look at him!” He says, waving a hand at all of Dean, making him blush even harder, “Why  _ wouldn’t _ I want to?”

Charlie rolls her eyes, “I meant if I told you  _ before _ you guys had your whole ‘super-intense-love-at-first-sight-meeting’,” she said, before cringing, her nose crinkling adorably, “Which I’m dubbing as your the True Love Moment or TLM from now on because that’s a mouthful.”

Dean, finally starting to get over his shock a little, raises an eyebrow, “True Love Moment? Seriously?” 

Charlie smirks, “What!? I’m the creator of this ship, I get to name the milestones. Speaking of, I’m thinking of Debriel, or maybe Deabriel, as the ship name. What do you think?” 

Gabriel and Dean stared at her.

“What?” She asks, looking between them.

“Charlie, dear, what in the  _ world _ are you going on about?” Gabriel asks, looking at her like she was speaking a different language.

Charlie looks back between the two, “You know, ships? Like relationships? You’ve never heard of shipping before?” she asks. Dean and Gabriel shake their heads. She sighs, “Well, now's really not the time to get into it anyway.” She turns her attention back to Dean, “How are you feeling sweetie?”

Dean looked back at Gabriel, who seemed to be lost in thought. “Uhmmm, still trying to figure out if I’m still unconscious and my dreams have changed from nightmares to surreal, or if this is actually happening.” He replies, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

Gabriel suddenly looks at him, “Dean?”

Dean blinks back in shock. “Wha-how? Charlie!” He looks at her with narrowed eyes.

“Hey! Two seconds ago he was just asking for your name! Does it look like I had the time to give it to him?” She raises her hands up defensively. 

Gabriel laughs, “No, I just guessed. Her ship name thing was obviously a mashup of our names. And there are only so many names that start with a “Dee” sound. My next guesses were gonna be Deacon or Diego, but Dean seemed like a better fit.”

Dean tilted his head, “A better fit?” Gabriel shrugged. “Yeah, well you seemed more like a Dean than a Deacon or a Diego.”

Dean blinked. “Oh. Okay.” he said, and then he narrowed his eyes at Charlie again. “You kind of did just give him my name with your whole ship thing.”

Charlie ducked her head sheepishly, “I would say I gave him a hint?” She replied with an apologetic smile. Dean rolled his eyes at her, before going stockstill as he suddenly remembered the conversation he and Gabriel had been having earlier.

He groaned and hid his blushing face in his hands, “Whyyy?” He lamented, and Gabriel and Charlie exchanged startled and confused looks. “ _ Why _ did you let me ramble on about how much of a fanboy I am for Angelorum Lapsus?” He asked mournfully, peeking up from behind his hands. Charlie grinned, and Gabriel smiled. “Because it was adorable, and flattering, and you’re not one of those super insane yandere fans that scare the crap outta me.” He replied gently.

Charlie huffed, “Oh, so you know about yandere, but not shipping,” she mumbled indignantly, and Dean and Gabriel both elected to ignore her.

“So, Dean,” Gabriel continued, just as gently as before, and Dean found himself getting caught in his eyes again, only this time it seemed more signifcant, knowing whose eyes those golden orbs belonged to, “How about we get you outta here and somewhere where you feel most comfortable, hm?” He asked with a smile.

 

As a way for their identities to be exposed, this certainly wasn’t ideal. But it definitely could have gone much worse. Gabriel was just counting his lucky stars that the shock hadn’t retriggered Virid-  _ Dean _ ’s panic attack. And as much as Gabriel would love to use this room for it’s actual purposes, he was more concerned about Dean’s wellbeing, and making sure that he comes down from his panic attack safely.

Dean ducked his head, “Uhh, yeah, I guess I kind of fucked up this date, didn’t I?” he asked dejectedly.

Gabriel frowned, “No.” Dean gave him a look. “Okay, well, yeah, this isn’t the way I was hoping it’d go, but I wouldn’t say it was ruined. Just… put on pause.”

Dean scrunched his face skeptically, “You’d want to continue after you’ve seen what a mess I am? Or now that you know I’m a dorky fanboy?”

Gabriel was definitely not liking this self-deprecating streak that Dean apparently has. He found himself, not for the first time, wanting to hunt down Alistair, and put him in his place.  _ Someone _ needed to do something about the asshole. Maybe give him a taste of his own fucked up medicine. Gabriel grinned inwardly at the idea of giving him his  _ just desserts _ . But first, Dean needed to be taken care of.

“I already told you, your fanboying is endearing, and I want to get to know you more. Not that many people can get out of Alastair’s hold, and get out more or less intact.” He said reassuringly, noticing Dean’s flinch at the mention of others who’d been with Alastair. Hmm, well, that would have to be a topic for another time. “So, we’ll continue our date another time,” Gabriel paused, “unless you don’t want to, of course. Whatever makes you feel most comfortable and safe.” He said, making sure to keep his expression even, so that Dean wouldn’t see his disappointment at the thought of not seeing him again.

Dean’s eyes widened. “No! I mean, of course I want to see you again. It’s just that...you could have  _ anybody _ you wanted - “

“Exactly.” Gabriel interrupted, “And I’ve chosen  _ you. _ ” Leveling his gaze on Dean’s emerald one, Dean flushing beautifully under the attention. The two of them once again got lost in each other’s eyes, each catalogue the different shades of gold or green in the other’s.  Charlie cleared her throat pointedly. 

“SO!” She said loudly, making them both startle, and look at her. “How about we get out of here, and we can figure out who’s going to whose place in the car?” 

 

Gabriel raised his eyebrows, and Dean found himself blushing even more at the implication that the two of them were going to spend the night together. 

“Don’t you think that’s moving a bit fast, Charlie?” Gabriel asked.

Charlie scoffed, “Sweetheart, you two met at a fetish club, and you were both intending on going to the Pit before the panic attack on Friday. In this case, fast is relative.” 

Dean looked at Charlie speculatively. Technically, she’s not wrong. If this had been any other guy, and they’d met on any other night than his first night back, Dean would probably have had Gabriel balls deep inside him already. Multiple times. In multiple ways. God, he was never going to stop blushing if he was going to keep getting embarrassed and turned on around Gabriel. 

Gabriel caught his eye, and seeing the obvious arousal in his viridian eyes, smirked heatedly. “That’s true, I suppose.” He conceded lowly, and Dean shivered slightly. 

“Hey hey!” Charlie said, snapping her fingers in front of their faces, “At least wait until I’m  _ out _ of the room before you start eyefucking each other. I may ship you guys, but I don’t want to see the dirty stuff.” She says with a shudder. 

Dean smiled sheepishly, and Gabriel just smirked at her. “S’your fault for suggesting it. You get what you ask for, missy,” Gabriel snarked at her. 

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Alright alright, let’s just vamoose. If you guys are planning on getting it on tonight, I wanna make sure I’m somewhere safe away from the noise. And we’ve already agreed to get Dean somewhere he feels safe, and as awesome as the club’s rooms are, it’s better if we get him home I think.” 

Dean hesitated at the idea of having Gabriel in his home; he knew he and Charlie had just cleaned it (...and his toys had been cleaned and organized...he blushed again at that thought.), and it  _ was _ soundproofed, and he did have all his aftercare stuff there, which is what he really needs right now, after having as bad of a panic attack as he just did… But was he ready to have Gabriel freaking Novak, who was previously the powerful, sexy Shakti just moments ago, in his apartment? 

Gabriel was watching him carefully, “I don’t have to come over if you’re not comfortable with it, you know? I’d be totally fine, with dropping you off, and instead taking a rain check on our date,” He said gently, “Hey, maybe we could have a normal date in a normal coffee shop this time?” He continue with a chuckle. 

Dean smiled weakly. “Uhm, can I decide on the way over?” he replied hesitantly. Charlie and Gabriel smiled back at him, “Of course, sweetie.” Charlie replied instead. And Dean relaxed a little in relief, considering that she’d be taking care of his aftercare if he decided he didn’t feel comfortable with having Gabriel over yet.

Charlie turned to Gabriel as she got up off the bed, and offered a hand to help Dean up. “So, did you drive over?” she asked him.

Gabriel nodded, and Charlie arched an eyebrow. “Even though you planned on drinking?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes, “Yes,  _ mom _ . A couple of beers weren’t going to enough to even get me a little buzzed, you know that. And I wasn’t planning on having more than that.” 

Charlie narrowed her eyes at him, “Alright, do you want to follow behind us then?” 

Gabriel looked at Dean, “You didn’t drive over?” he asked. 

Dean shook his head, with a rueful smile, “ _ Mom _ , here, wouldn’t let me, so I cabbed over.”

Charlie rolled her eyes at the both of them. “Well, I’m sorry for caring about your well-being ,” she snarked, as they made their way out of the club. Dean and Gabriel exchanged a grin behind her back.  _ Well, at least we have a couple things in common, _ Dean thought as he followed Charlie out, nodding and saying his thanks to the guards and club staff as they passed them,  _ Bugging Charlie, and Angelorum Lapsus. And oh yeah, BDSM… _

There was a moment of awkwardness when the three of them exited the club and found they had to split up since Gabriel and Charlie had parked on opposite sides of the club. “You know what my car looks like right?” Charlie asked, and Gabriel rolled his eyes. 

“You mean that yellow monstrosity you call Toto?” he said with a quirked eyebrow. “Yeah, I know what your ‘car’ looks like.” He confirmed, air quotes and all. 

Charlie huffed, offended. “What  _ is _ it with you two and your classic cars, huh? My Toto is a  _ good _ car,” she defended. Gabriel smirked, and Dean fought a smile of his own as he said placatingly, “Yes, Charlie, your Toto is a good car.”

Gabriel laughed, “You’re just saying that because you need to ride back with her.”

Dean couldn’t help the smile this time. “I plead the fifth.”

Charlie narrowed her eyes, “You two are lucky that I like you guys.” she said warningly. “Though I’m beginning to wonder why,” she said under her breath, and turned in the direction of her car. “You better keep up Gabe!” She said in a louder voice, and Dean found himself grinning back at Gabriel as he hurried to catch up with her. 

 

Gabriel laughed, feeling encouraged by how easy it was to be casual with Dean and Charlie, and he sincerely hoped that it wasn’t just due to Charlie’s presence. He jogged over to his car which was on the other end of the block, fortunately it looked like Charlie would have to turn around, so he had a few seconds to get himself situated before he followed her bright yellow VW.

When they stopped at a stoplight, Gabriel quickly pulled out his phone and pressed the speed dial button for Cas.

“Gabriel? What happened? Are you okay?” came Cas’ worried voice over the speaker. 

“Did he kill someone?” he heard Luci’s slurred voice in the background. “Do  _ we _ need to kill someone? Sic our fans on a bad guy?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes good naturedly, “Who let Luci have the whiskey?” he asked, because Lucifer only got violent and started talking about siccing fans on people after he’d had a few shots of whiskey. He heard Cas sigh on the other end. 

“He  _ apparently _ had a bottle stashed away in his room where we couldn’t find. We have yet to determine if he has more. Michael and Raphael are currently searching his room.” Cas said in a frustrated voice. Gabriel bit back a snicker, apparently Cas had been delegated to babysitting duty. (They’d learned the hard way not to leave Luci alone after he’d had some whiskey.)

“I trust you had a reason to call, other than to revel in my pain?” Cas asked dryly, he knew Gabriel too well at this point. 

“Mmmm the sweet sweet taste of schadenfreude, s’what you guys get for being mean to me the other day.” He replied cheerfully. “But, yes, I just wanted to let you know I might not be coming back tonight.”

He could practically hear Cas’ smirk on the other end. “So, the date is going well then?” he asked smugly, “There wasn’t a need to be so nervous?”

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “ _ Actually, _ I’m heading over to his place with Charlie to help him with some aftercare because he had another panic attack at the club.” 

There was silence on the other end. “My apologies. Is he alright?”

Gabriel softened, “Yeah, he’s better now, we got him to one of the private rooms pretty quick, so he wasn’t out in the public eye for too long while it was happening.” 

“I see, I’m glad for that then,” Cas said. “Wait, ‘might not be coming back’, so you might be coming back?” 

Gabriel nodded, before realizing that Cas couldn’t see him, and cursed himself because he probably looked like a fool to whoever might’ve been looking at him at that moment. “Yeah, by happenstance, our identities were exposed to each other. Just each other! It was while we were in the private room. Anyway, he’s not yet sure if he’s comfortable having me over, but neither of us really want to end the date. He really need the aftercare though, so if we continue it’ll be back at his place where he feels safest. He’s going to decide on the way.” He explained as he continued to follow Charlie’s car, driving with one hand on the wheel, and one hand holding his phone to his ear.

“But…” Cas hesitated, “If he needs aftercare, how is he going to get that if he decides he is not yet comfortable having you in his home?” 

“Charlie’s going to help him, if that’s his decision, and we’re going to take a rain check on our date.” Gabriel replied.

“Wait, Charlie?! As in the tiny cheerful red-headed girl that we’ve had over for dinner on multiple occasions? That Charlie?  _ She’s _ the mutual friend who set you up with this guy at the club?” Cas exclaimed, shock causing him to break out of his normal taciturn character, and Gabriel grinned in pride. It was hard to shock Cas off that stick up his ass. And shocking him was the only way to do it.

“Hold up, Charlie?” “Someone mention Charlie?” He heard Raphael and Michael in the background.

“Yeaaaah, she’s the kiiinkyyyy friend who introduce Gabbie to his kinky magical muse.” Luci slurred out in response. 

“What?!” Raph and Mike exclaimed. 

“No way! But. She’s so…cheerful..” Mike said slowly, and Gabriel rolled his eyes at his brother’s prejudice.

“And what? I’m an emo goth?” Gabriel snarked, though he knew that only Cas could hear, his brothers’ voices weren’t tinny enough for him to be on speakerphone right now. 

“Gabriel, you know that is not what Michael meant.” Cas said, apparently over the shock enough to go back to his stick-in-the-mud self, and Gabriel pouted at the fact that the effect had only lasted a few moments. 

“Hmph. Anyway, if he decides that he doesn’t feel comfortable with me being over, then Charlie is going to be the one to help him with his aftercare.” He replied sullenly, before his eyes widen as he returned his attention to the road.

“Shit!” He said, as he suddenly braked and he tossed his phone into the passenger seat beside him as he gripped his steering wheel with both hands. Charlie had braked just as suddenly in front of him, and he had had to hurry to follow suit to avoid rear-ending her. 

He could hear Cas’ voice yelling his name worriedly on the his phone beside him, and he took a few breaths to try and calm his rabbiting heart. He picked up his phone, “I’m fine, Cas. Just had to brake quickly, wasn’t expecting that.” He said reassuringly. 

“Gabriel,” Castiel admonished, “You know I don’t like it when you drive and talk on your phone at the same time. The human attention span is not made to multitask.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes at the reoccurring lecture; he gets this one every time Cas rides with him and Gabriel answers his phone. “Yeah, yeah, Cassie. I promise next time I won’t do it.”

He could almost see the disapproving frown on his little brother’s face. “You say that every time. The promise does not hold weight unless you intend to follow through.” Cas replied. 

Gabriel sighed, and rubbed his hand over his face, and he took another calming breath; his heart rate still hadn’t slowed. “Yeah, well, maybe this time I’ll keep it.” He said wryly. “Anyhoo, I’ll give you a shout to let you know if I’m coming home. I gotta go check and see why Charlie braked so fast and if they’re okay over there.”

“Goodness, by all means, go check on them!” Cas said, concern tinting his voice. “And don’t talk and drive next time!” He reminded. 

Gabriel, turning on his blinker lights, and unbuckling his seatbelt, replied distractedly as he got out of his car, “Yeah sure, Cassie. Talk to you later.” 

He looked behind his car, and fortunately, there was no one behind him, and then made his way over to Charlie, who was already out of her car, “What happened? Are you two okay?” He asked.

Charlie nodded, and pointed in front of her car, there was a man lying on the ground, obviously drunk, and struggling to stand back up. Gabriel sighed in relief, and ran and hand through his hair. “Alright, let me get him off the street and then we can be back on our way. You sure you’re okay?” He checked with Charlie as he walked over to the drunk, he knew about Charlie’s past with her parents.

Charlie nodded weakly, “Yeah, j-just a little shaken up.” She replied in a small voice. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at her slightly, as he manhandled the drunk up and over onto the sidewalk to prop him up against the wall. “You better call a friend, bud.” He said quietly to the man, “Or you’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“‘M fiiiiine,” the man responded waving him off, and Gabriel just rolled his eyes before turning back to check on Charlie. 

Dean was already out of the car, and holding her by the time he got there. She was shaking a little, as Dean shushed her comfortingly. “I’m being silly. I’m supposed to be taking care of  _ you _ . You just had a panic attack, you shouldn’t be the one to be taking care of me.” She said quietly as tears trickled down her face. 

“Yeah, well, now you’re the one who’s having a panic attack, and if the situation were reversed you’d be doing the same.” Dean reassured her, looking up pleadingly at Gabriel. Despite what Dean was saying, Charlie was right, he wasn’t in a good space to take care of someone in the midst of a panic attack right now. Gabriel smiled reassuringly at him. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here remember?” 

Charlie looked up at him, and laughed weakly. “What, you’re going to take care of two people post-panic attack needs?” she asked incredulously.

Gabriel smirked, but his eyes were gentle as he replied, “Psh, you know me, what kind of dom would I be if I couldn’t take care of my subs’ needs after a menage a trois?” 

Charlie scoffed a little. “Fine, but there’s no need for you to have to take care of me at the same time. I can just call up my friend, she’s helped me with a couple domdrops before, she can handle a panic attack.” 

Dean tilted his head at her, “Dorothy?” 

Charlie nodded in response, “Yeah, I think you’ve met her once or twice? One of my dom friends?” 

“Long dark hair, got a thing against smart macho-looking guys?” he asked wryly, remembering that the times he’d met her had not been pleasant, since she seemed to think that she had him pegged just by looking at him, and how she’d barely let him get a word in edgewise, assuming that he was just like every other alpha-male stereotype she’d ever come across. 

“Hey, just like the rest of us, she has her own rings to bear,” she frowned as she chided him. 

Dean rolled his eyes at the blatant Lord of the Rings reference, and just shrugged. “Yeah, yeah, I know,” he mumbled. 

Gabriel looked at Dean, “You okay with me coming over? You were supposed to have enough time to make your decision before we got to your place.” He said as they walked (/helped) Charlie back over to the driver’s side of the car to where her purse was, which had her cellphone in it. Dean nodded as Charlie dialed Dorothy’s number and Gabriel turned on her blinker lights. “Yeah, I was already leaning towards a yes to you coming over anyway. This is just giving me the final little push I needed,” he said with a shy smile. 

Gabriel returned his smile and nodded before turning to check on Charlie, who was just finishing up her conversation with Dorothy. “She on her way?” he asked. Charlie nodded. “You want us to stick around until she gets here?” She nodded again, looking a little sheepish. 

“Alrighty. Well! We gotta get our cars out of the middle of the road, you think you can handle a few feet or would prefer I do it?” She ducked her head, “Would you mind?”

“Sweetheart, I wouldn’t have offered if I did.” He replied with a smirk, and motioned for the two of them to stand by his car as he got into Charlie’s Toto.

He cringed just a little at the thought of being seen driving this thing, but he was a good friend dammit. And Charlie’s well being trumped having a little bit of his pride as a classic car lover die. 

He parked the two cars at the side of the road and then they waited for Dorothy to arrive; she was coming by taxi so that she could drive Charlie’s car home. Once Charlie was well on her way safely home, Dean and Gabriel piled into his car and Dean gave him the address to his apartment.

 

 

Dean’s hand was trembling as he tried to put his key into his lock. Even though they had left the club feeling more comfortable with each other, the near car accident had put him back on edge and he was suddenly extremely aware that he was inviting not only the impressive sexy man he knew as Shakti, but his favorite member of his favorite band, and he was now feeling very nervous. He jumped a little when Gabriel reached out and took his keys and opened the door. Gabriel gave him a gentle smile as he stepped back to let Dean walk in first. Dean returned the smile weakly and walked into his apartment. 

“Uhhm, well um this is my place.” Dean said lamely, not knowing what else to say.

Gabriel chuckled, “Considering we opened the door with a key, I kind of guessed. Otherwise I’d say you’re a really skilled break-in artist.” Dean flushed and ducked his head, feeling stupid

“Hey hey now, I was just teasing.” Gabriel said quickly, moving to Dean’s side and putting his hand gently on his shoulder. Dean nodded, still not really knowing what to do with the fact that his idol was in his house.

Gabriel put his hands into his pocket and rocked back onto his heel. “So, what’s your normal aftercare-slash-post-panic-attack routine?” He asked.

Dean looked towards his room, he had his aftercare kit underneath his bed, next to the chest of...toys… he flushed at the thought of Gabriel finding those. 

 

Gabriel felt a little disheartened the the comfortable casual air between them had disappeared now that it was just the two of them, but he brushed the feeling aside in favor of taking care of Dean. He followed Dean's gaze, “Cuddles? Massage?” he inquired starting to make his way, noting just how uncomfortable Dean was, and realizing that he’d really need to take the reigns here.  

Gabriel stopped short when Dean made a strangled squeaking sound and grabbed his arm. “I, I um, I have an aftercare kit. I-I can get it though.” Dean stuttered quietly. 

Gabriel stared at him curiously for a moment before nodding. “Okay, How about a bath? I could run one up for you? Maybe some hot chocolate or tea?” He suggested.

 

Dean nodded, and though the fact that his favorite member of his favorite band was in his apartment offering aftercare was still feeling extremely surreal, he found himself feeling reassured that Gabriel was being so gentle and attentive with him right now. Even if he definitely didn’t deserve this attention. 

“Uhmm yeah, that sounds great, thanks. The hot chocolate mix is in the cupboard above the espresso machine.” 

Gabriel smiled brightly, making Dean’s heart flutter a bit. “Great! And the bathroom…?” 

“Oh! Um the door at the end of the hall.” Dean directed, pointing. 

“Alright, now how about you go grab that aftercare kit?” Gabriel suggested, walking down the hall in the direction that Dean had showed him. Dean nodded dumbly, watching Gabriel walk around like he was completely at home in Dean’s apartment. Realizing that it wouldn’t take long for Gabriel to start running a bath, Dean hurried to his room to grab the aftercare kit, making sure to push the other box a little deeper under the bed. 

He pulled the small black suitcase out and placed it on top of the bed before opening it. Inside was massage oil in his favorite scent - sandalwood -, a headscratcher, a few candles (vanilla-scented to compliment the oil), a large fluffy green throw blanket, and a small squirrel plushie. Dean smiled and picked up the squirrel; the plushie had been Charlie’s idea of a joke. Everyone teased Sam about being a moose because of his height and stature, and Charlie thought it would be fitting if Dean was the Rocky to Sam’s Bullwinkle. And while Dean had groaned at her when she gave it to him, he loved the thing, because it did remind him of Sam, and reminded him of how well he and his brother worked together and fit in each other’s lives, even if they did currently live on opposite ends of the country right now.

“Dean?” Gabriel’s voice came softly from the doorway, and Dean jumped a little, having got lost in thought and forgetting that he wasn’t home alone. He turned to look at Gabriel, hiding the squirrel behind his back as he did so. “Y-yeah?” 

Gabriel’s gaze was soft and Dean blushed because he was pretty sure he had seen the plushie. Mercifully, Gabriel didn’t mention it. “The bath is ready. I was just about to get started on the hot chocolate. Do you want it with the bath or after?” He asked with a smile. Dean couldn’t help but smile back gratefully. 

“Oh, ummm after is fine.” He replied, and Gabriel nodded. 

 

_ Chuck, does he have to be this damn adorable, _ Gabriel thought, before gesturing his head towards the suitcase. “Is that the aftercare kit?” he asked, making a point not to bring to attention that Dean was still, unsuccessfully, hiding a squirrel plushie behind his back. Dean looked down at the suitcase on the bed, and then back at Gabriel nodding. 

“Alrighty then, how about you go get ready for the bath, and I’ll get the hot chocolate ready. Then I’ll come in here and set up the aftercare kit, okay?” He asked, detailing his plan clearly for Dean. Dean smiled shyly, but nodded, and awkwardly (because he was still trying to hide that plushie) made his way to his dresser drawer to grab the change of clothes he need for after his bath. Gabriel gave a quick nod and left the gorgeous blond man to his devices and made his way to the kitchen to familiarize himself with it. He assumed he’d be staying the night, which meant he could make Dean breakfast in the morning. 

 

Dean carefully and apologetically hid Rocky in the dresser drawer, as he grab his sleep pants and a soft t-shirt, before making his way to the bathroom. Dean took a deep breath and was surprised to note that Gabriel had added his favorite sandalwood bath oil, and was even more surprised (and pleased) that Gabriel had drawn a bubble bath, making Dean feel a little reassured, since it meant that if Gabriel decided to check in on him, he wouldn’t get an eyeful. 

Dean quickly disrobed and slunk himself in the bathtub with an appreciative groan, it was the perfect temperature - nice and hot, just shy of being scalding. Dean noticed that his bath pillow was even set up, and laid back and, for the first time this evening, allowed himself to fully relax. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually had planned to write more about their evening for this chapter, but this just felt like the right place to end it so...  
> The next chapter will be more on their evening, and their morning after ;)  
> I also have the next couple chapters outlined up :) So hopefully I'll get the next chapter up and out this time next week :D
> 
> Love  
> X
> 
> P.S. I has a tumblr! Come say hi to me :3 http://belabee.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Comments kudos and bookmarks are life! <3 please keep me alive! :P :3
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry if the formatting is all funky, I use google docs to write, and for some reason had a lot of trouble copying into ao3's text editor.


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